The Avatar's Bodyguard
by Saberfan83
Summary: After the Order of the White Lotus is told that Korra is staying on Air Temple Island, instead of sending a group to provide security, they send one. One Naruto Uzumaki.
1. Chapter 1

**The Avatar's Bodyguard**

Chapter 1

On an island off the coast of the Fire Nation capital was an island. This island is the ancestral home of the Fire Sages. They trained the Avatar in the use of his or her Firebending. This had been the case until the start of the Hundred Years War. The last Avatar to be officially trained by them, was Avatar Roku. Avatar Aang had visited the temple as well, but by that point all but one of the sages had joined the service of the Fire Lord.

When the Avatar finally defeated the Fire Lord he, along with the help of the Order Of The White Lotus, expelled the unfaithful elements of the Order of the Sages. As thanks for their aid in retaking the Earth Kingdom city of Ba Sing Se, Aang allowed the White Lotus to use the temple as a base of operations.

The training room was empty except for one person. This young man was a firebender, as was clear from the periodic fire blasts that were released in his vicinity. The blond-haired young bender had removed his undershirt and his over-coat. The sweat was almost streaming down his body as he was finishing up with his exercise. He finished and moved to collect his clothes.

"That was very well done, my young friend." A voice said as he reached for his clothes.

"Ah, master Gozu, forgive me. I did not see you enter." The young man replied.

"There is nothing to forgive. You were finishing your exercise, so I merely waited."

"Is there anything specific you require of me?"

"Yes. As you have no doubt heard, the Avatar was able to escape to Republic City."

"Yes. I hear she, made quite the impression, shall we say. I don't really see a problem. Standard procedure is to send a three-man cell to retrieve her."

"Correct, and normally that would be the case, but Master Tenzin has decided to let her stay so that she can study Airbending with him and his family. And before you answer, yes I know procedure for that as well, but in this case, I have come up with a different idea."

"Which is?"

"As you know, normally we would send a full contingent of benders of all kinds to provide security, but I have something else in mind."

Naruto gestured with his hand to continue.

"I propose we send you."

"Only me?"

"Only you."

There was a few moments' silence, and then... "What! Are you insane!?" came the vehement reply.

"Actually, no. I am quite lucid and sane at the moment."

"Oh good." Was the sarcastic reply. "Explain to me then how you came to the conclusion that sending only me would be such a good idea?"

"Well," the aged master began, "as you could probably imagine, a whole contingent of our brothers and sisters would be quite disruptive. To alleviate that somewhat, but still make our presence known, I propose we send you."

"Why me? I am no-one special."

"Ah, my boy. There is no need to be quite so modest. In the history of our order none have mastered Firebending as quickly, save Grand Lotus Iroh. You have always completed every assignment given to you successfully. You are the only choice for this mission."

"If you feel that is the case master, then I accept."

"Thank you my boy. You leave tonight on the first available ship bound for Republic City. You had best hurry." Gozu said, as he turned to walk away.

"Damn it!" Naruto cried as he ran for his room to go pack.

As Naruto left the training hall, another master in White Lotus robes entered from the opposite side of the hall. He made his way to Master Gozu and said: "Why send only one Lotus member? And why him?"

Master Gozu turned to regard the speaker. "Ah, Master Danzig. I believe it is the right thing to do."

"You understand how important it is that the Avatar must be protected."

"Indeed I do."

"And you believe this boy will be able to accomplish that?"

"Yes, I believe it is the best choice for them both."

"He is too emotional and impulsive."

"Where he is going that will be useful."

"You are sending a mouse into a nest of snakes! By the Spirits! The boy will get himself and the Avatar killed within a day of his arrival."

"I have faith."

"What do you mean?"

"Even a mouse, gifted with the heart of a lion-turtle, can defeat a snake."

"I think you are beginning to lose your grasp on reality."

"We shall see who is correct in the end my friend. Time will tell. Sooner or later, time will tell."

Meanwhile, on Air Temple Island.

Tenzin was busy going through his lesson plans for Korra's training. The headstrong young woman would be difficult to teach, but he believed it was possible if he could find some way to connect with her. Suddenly there was a knock on the door.

"Enter." He called.

It was his wife, Pema, who entered. Immediately Tenzin rose from his chair and moved towards her. "Pema, is something wrong? Is it the baby?"

"Tenzin, I'm fine. I just came to deliver this message that arrived from the White Lotus." She answered in an exasperated tone as she handed him the scroll.

Tenzin immediately broke the seal and unrolled the scroll.

 _My dear friend Tenzin_

 _I hope this letter finds you well. I have sent the necessary guard for the Avatar. He should arrive on the island early tomorrow morning. Treat him with the same respect you would me._

 _Let me know how he is adjusting and how you and the rest of your family fair._

 _Yours in friendship_

 _Master Gozu_

"He makes it sound like he only sent one person." Pema commented, reading the message alongside her husband.

"Yes. That does seem to be the case. We will have to see who it is they send."

Early the next morning

A ship was making its way to Air Temple Island. It carefully made its way to the wooden pier and came to a stop. A gangplank was lowered to the pier and before the captain could say anything, the lone passenger had made his way onto the pier.

Turning to speak to the captain, Naruto said: "Thank you for the seedy journey captain."

"No problem, my boy. If you ever need our help again, ask around the main harbour for Captain Jiraiya." The captain replied and saluted him.

As the young man made his way up to the temple, he could hear the captain shouting to his men to make ready for the return trip.

"Hello, can I help you?"

Naruto hid his surprise at not noticing the young girl who greeted him, earlier.

"Sorry. Lotus member Naruto Uzumaki at your service." He said with a slight bow.

"Oh!" the young girl rushed to return the bow. "My name is Jinora."

"The eldest of Master Tenzin's children I understand." He said, then added. "I am unsure if your father said anything about my arrival."

"He did mention to expect someone and that you're here to protect Korra. But, we didn't think you would arrive until tonight."

"Yes, well, my early arrival is due to both my irritating master and my good fortune regarding the ship crew I was able to hire." He said with a combination of a long-suffering sigh and a slight smile. "Could you guide me to your father please."

"I'd be happy to." She replied.

Korra was reading the newspaper while she and Tenzin were eating breakfast. "And in the final round the Buzzard-Wasps won with a decisive knockout." With a wide smile she looked across the table at Tenzin and added: "What d'ya say we go to the arena tonight. Catch a few Pro-Bending matches."

Tenzin frowned and answered with a tone of derision: "That _sport_ is a mockery of the noble tradition of Bending."

"Come on Tenzin," Korra argued. "I've dreamed about seeing a Pro-bending match since I was a kid. And now I'm just a ferry-ride away." She said, gesturing to the arena which was clearly visible in the window behind her.

"Korra you're not here to watch that drivel." Tenzin answered, brooking no further argument. "You're here to finish your Avatar training, so for the time being I want you to remain on the island."

"Fine. Though I would have thought you'd have some of those Lotus Order guys here to help you keep an eye on me."

"Your guard should be here by tonight." Tenzin said, continuing his meal.

Just then, Jinora and Naruto entered. "Actually Dad, he just got here." Gesturing to her side, she continued. "This is Naruto Uzumaki of the Order Of The White Lotus."

Bowing, Naruto added his own greetings. "Good morning all."

'Wow, he looks almost to be about my age.' Korra thought to herself.

Tenzin made it to his feet and turned to Naruto. "Greetings Master Uzumaki. My name is Tenzin. I am the resident bending master and this, as you are no doubt aware, is Korra. The Avatar."

"Of course. It's a pleasure to meet you both." He said with a light smile. "If someone could guide me to the sleeping quarters, I can take things from there."

"I can do that." Korra jumped up as she said this. "Follow me, I'll take you to the men's dormitory."

"Korra, I left a traditional Airbender uniform in your room. When you are done escorting Master Uzumaki to his room, I will meet you at the women's dormitory." Tenzin said as they made to leave frowning slightly as he watched them go. 'That is decidedly odd. I'll have to speak to Pema about that.'

 **With Korra & Naruto**

They made their way in relatively comfortable silence, Korra subtly trying to stare any information out of him.

"I won't bite you know." He said smirking and looking at her with his peripheral vision.

Slightly startled, Korra replied: "Sorry. It's just that, normally, most of the people I've met that serve in the White Lotus are around Tenzin and Pema's age. Maybe a little younger."

"Ah," he said, as if that explained everything. "And you just cannot believe how someone as dashing, handsome and devil-may-care as me ended up in the stuffy Order of the White Lotus." He added, his voice heavy with sarcasm.

"Yeah, that."

"Well, I was not the most well-off individual. I was six years old, and living on the street..."

 _Flashback_

A young blond-haired boy was making his way through the market. He found a worthy target. Some stuffy-looking noble in a blue and white robe that hung down to his feet.

'Easy money.' He thought as he made his move.

He had just lifted the purse when he heard a stern voice cry out; "Stop you little thief! Sop in the name of the law!"

Taking off like a shot from a cannon, Naruto ran. He ducked into the first available alley-mouth, the guard following and picking up speed.

Unfortunately Naruto had mistaken his route and found himself at a dead-end. Turning to confront the guard, he shouted: "Stay away from me!"

"Don't worry kid. I'm not going to hurt you. Much." The guard said in a menacing tone of voice.

The boy threw a poorly-aimed punch as the guard drew closer. There was a sudden burst of flame and then a scream.

 _Flashback end_

Naruto finished his story as they reached his room. "The guard didn't expect me to be a firebender. I had never made a fire blast that big before then. The flame permanently blinded the guard. I ran past him toward the alley-mouth. That's when I ran into the noble I robbed."

"He wasn't a noble, was he?" She asked, already suspecting the answer.

"No. He wasn't. Turns out he was a senior member of the Order of the White Lotus. Instead of being angry or judgemental, he looked at me with sympathy and asked if he could help. He sent for one of the other members, a waterbender, who healed the guard as much as possible and took him to the nearest barracks. Then he offered me membership in the Order. I accepted and the rest, as they say, is history."

For a moment, time seemed to be frozen as the two benders stared at one another. Then, without warning, the silence was broken in the most unexpected way. "Hey Korra Jinora said there was someone here from the White Lotus." Both Naruto and Korra turned to regard the new speaker.

Ikki came waltzing in. "Oooh! Is this him! He's handsome, isn't he?!"

"Ikki, I think you should be quiet before you embarrass yourself." Korra muttered through gritted teeth.

"Ah, so this is Ikki." Naruto said. He bowed again in greeting. "It is a pleasure to meet you."

"Well, you are certainly well-mannered, I will say that." Pema added, as she appeared. Seemingly appearing out of thin air, summoned it seems, whenever it appeared that Ikki would get embarrassingly out of hand.

"And this is Pema." Korra said, by way of introduction.

"It is a pleasure to meet you Lady Pema." Naruto greeted again.

"I should probably go and get ready for training." Korra said and turned to go. Before jogging off, she turned and added. "I'll see you around?"

"Oh, you most certainly will. Especially at mealtimes." Naruto answered.

And with that, she was off. Today would be her first day of training, and she was going to throw everything she had into it.

 **A/N: I loved this show. This is my attempt to write a fanfic for it. I'm not sure if I will be able to add Asami to my planned Naruto/Korra pairing, but I'll try.**


	2. Chapter 2

The Avatar's Bodyguard

Chapter 2

Korra and Tenzin were walking to the first exercise in her Airbending training. Tenzin was walking slightly ahead of her when he decided to broach what he knew had to be a difficult subject.

"So, my mother informs me that you have never been able to Airbend before." Tenzin began calmly, failing to notice for a moment that Korra had halted behind him. He stopped when he heard that she was a slight distance behind him.

She sighs as she answers: "Yeah, but I don't know why," she replied softly, scratching her head. "The other elements came so easily to me. But every single time I try to Airbend. Zip. Nothing."

Tenzin walks toward her, still trying to keep her calm: "That's perfectly alright," he began, rolling down the sleeves of her Airbender tunic. "Often the element that's the most difficult for the Avatar to master is the one most opposite to the Avatar's personality." He finished by adding. "For Aang it was Earthbending."

"Yeah, well I'm as opposite an Airbender as you can get." She said sullenly.

With a slight smile and turning to continue walking, he said: "Let's begin your first lesson."

They reached the top of the steps, to find that Tenzin's children were already waiting.

"Korra's gonna Airbend! Korra's gonna Airbend!" Ikki shouted in excitement. Behind them, were various wooden boards, mounted upright on a random set of poles. All of them with the traditional symbol for Airbending painted on them.

"What is that contraption?" Korra asked in a bemused tone of voice.

Entering teaching mode, Tenzin answered: "A time-honored tool that teaches the most fundamental aspect of Airbending." Glancing over to his eldest he added. "Jinora would you like to explain this exercise?"

"The goal is to weave your way through the gates without touching them." Jinora explained.

"That sounds easy enough." Korra says, slightly smug.

"Jinora forgot to mention that you have to make it through while the gates are spinning." Ikki added quickly.

As Ikki finished, Tenzin stepped forward and gesturing slightly, sent a gust of wind blowing through the gates. Holding up a leaf, he continued. "The key is to be like the leaf. Flow with the movement of the gates." And with that he sent the leaf floating through the spinning maze of wood.

As Jinora entered the maze she began making a series of spiral movements. Tenzin's commentary confirmed this. "Airbending is all about spiral movements. When you meet resistance, you must be able to switch direction at a moment's notice."

Jinora exited the other side still holding the standard Airbending stance. Spinning, she punched and blew more air through the gates, sending them spinning all over again. "Let's do this." Korra said with a determined tone and ran towards the gates. Immediately, she was struck in the face by a series of gates.

Hours seemed to pass and Korra kept being hit time and again by the gates. Tenzin grimaced in sympathy. "Dance! Dance like the wind!" Ikki shouted trying to help.

"Be the leaf!" Meelo added, making a series of waving gestures.

Eventually the sun set and it was decided they would try again the next day. Frustrated, Korra had hung up the day's newspaper on the washing line – coincidentally displaying a photograph of Chief Beifong. Her pet polar bear-dog, Naga, lay nearby grunting in support.

"Airbend!" She shouted gesturing at the newspaper. Seeing no immediate result, she made the same movement. By the third failure, her anger had shown itself. "AIRBEND!" she shouted, losing her temper. Instead of a gust of wind, a burst of flame left her fist, completely incinerating the newspaper."Aargh! Maybe I'm just not cut out to be an Airbender, huh Naga?"

An unexpected voice made itself known. "My teachers used to say that power in Firebending comes from the breath, not the muscles. Of course I don't think that's gonna help you."

Turning she found Naruto, walking towards her. "Very funny. I just can't understand why I can't crack this. None of the other elements were this hard to learn."

"Be patient. You were bound to hit a speed bump in your training eventually." Naruto said consolingly.

"Yeah, I know." She answered, stroking Naga's head for comfort.

Deciding to change the subject, Naruto gestured to her companion. "I've been meaning to ask, but what is that?"

Pointing proudly at Naga, she answered. "This is Naga, my polar bear-dog and best friend."

"Fascinating. An actual polar bear-dog. This is the first time I've actually seen one." He said, moving closer to look at it. "Is it tame?"

Naga growled slightly. "She. She's tame enough to allow me to ride her. Anyone else has to be accompanied by me."

"Anyway," Naruto continued, changing the subject again. "I was wondering if you wanted to come and listen to my radio in the nearby guard room."

"Why would I do that?" She asked, frowning slightly.

"Well, when I arrived this morning, I happened to overhear that you are a fan of Pro-Bending. Tonight is the first preliminary match for the Fire Ferrets. I thought you might want to listen in." Naruto explained.

"Great! Count me in!"

The match was heating up. They were listening intently as they followed the progress of the Fire Ferrets who seemed to be the underdogs. It was quickly reaching the point where it seemed that the Fire Ferrets would either win or be blown out of the ring.

Before they could find out what happened either way, the radio went dead. Suddenly, Tenzin's voice boomed behind them. "Korra! I thought I made myself clear, I don't want you listening to this distracting nonsense."

She tried to defend herself. "You told me I couldn't watch a match, you said nothing about listening to it on the radio."

"Master Tenzin, I was right here with her, she was in no danger." Naruto added.

Korra glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. 'I didn't expect him to defend me. Then again, he did invite me here, so it is partly his fault.' She thought.

"You-" he growls in frustration. "You both know what I meant." Turning towards Naruto he continued. "I know she was safe, but this nonsense is distracting her from her training."

"I disagree. Sometimes a change is useful to regard a problem with fresh eyes."

"So you're saying this is supposed to help her?!"

"Yes." Naruto replied simply.

Realizing he was losing the argument, he said, stuttering all the while. "Shouldn't… Shouldn't you be in bed?" And with that he left, turning so quickly he blasted Korra with a gust of wind.

"I think in this case, we should heed his advice." Naruto said.

Turning towards him, Korra said. "Yeah, probably. Thanks for sticking up for me by the way."

"My pleasure Avatar Korra." He replied, bowing slightly.

"Please. Just Korra." Korra said, slightly embarrassed.

Smiling slightly, he answered. "Very well. Goodnight Korra."

"Goodnight Naruto." She said.

So saying they left for their separate rooms.

As Naruto lay in bed that night, waiting for sleep to claim him, he thought about the day's events. There had to be a way to teach Korra the fundamental mentality of an Airbender. That was her major problem as far as he could tell. Whenever a problem came up, she would try and steamroll over it or otherwise face it head-on, a very 'Earthbender' way of thinking, and surprising for a Waterbender.

Either Tenzin would have to teach her in a different way, or she would find a way to learn it on her own. Failing that, he would help her any way he could. Technically this was not part of his mandated orders, but he had decided to help her, if for no other reason than the fact she would be able to take on her role as the Avatar quicker and more completely once she had mastered all the elements.

That's the reason he used to try and convince himself anyway, completely ignoring the fact that he was slightly attracted to her.

The next morning Korra was to be found meditating along with Tenzin and his three children. Naruto was standing watch nearby. Unfortunately, she was failing spectacularly. Opening her eyes to look at how the others were fairing, it seemed to her that Jinora, Ikki and Meelo had no trouble reaching the required state of mind.

She slouches slightly and muttered, "I think I'm doing it wrong."

"There is nothing to do." Tenzin replied, opening his eyes, "Let your mind and your spirit be free. For Air is the element of freedom." Korra let loose a derisive laugh at this.

"Is something funny?" Tenzin asked, frowning at her.

"Yeah, you're telling me to embrace freedom, but you won't even let me listen to the radio. And forget about leaving this island."

"Please Korra. Look at Meelo. He is able to meditate peacefully."

If one listened closely however, soft snores could be heard emanating from Meelo. Korra decided to point this out. "Actually, I think he's asleep."

"What!" Tenzin cries, and then adds, "Well at least he has the relaxing part down."

Impatiently, Korra replied. "Whatever, none of this Airbending stuff makes any sense to me."

"I know you're frustrated, but these teachings will sink in over time." Tenzin tried to explain. "Then one day, they'll just click."

Korra tried again, but not even ten seconds later. "Yeah, it's not sinking in yet. I'm getting a glass of litchi juice." Having said that she got up off the floor and left the pagoda. Silently Naruto followed her. Behind them they could faintly hear Ikki asking for the same and Tenzin's firm reply.

Reaching the kitchen, Korra found herself a glass and proceeded to pour some litchi juice. Naruto decided to make his opinion known. "You understand Tenzin is just trying to help, right?"

Surprised, Korra turned to find Naruto standing in a nearby corner. "Jeez, you scared me Naruto."

"Sorry, but you know I'm right. Tenzin's just doing what he thinks will help you access your Airbending faster, so you can get to the fun stuff." He said, grinning slightly.

"Yeah. You're wrong about the fun stuff though."

"What do you mean?"

"For Tenzin this is the fun stuff." She replied, laughing.

Joining in, Naruto answered. "You may be right."

That night, Naruto was making the last of his patrol rounds, when he heard a suspicious noise.

"That sounded like a splash." Naruto muttered to himself. Fearing someone may have tripped and fell he headed to where he heard it. Seeing nothing untoward, he made his way to Korra's room to check that she was safe.

He slid open the door barely an inch, looked inside, but found it empty. 'Dammit! Where could she have gone?' He thought. He quickly proceeded to check all the likely places around the island, but found nothing. As a last resort he checked the area he had heard the splash. After a more thorough examination he found tracks that corresponded to the prints of Korra's boots.

'Why would she possibly go for a swim now?' He thought as he looked out across the bay. Immediately he saw the grandly decorated Pro-Bending arena. "Of course!" he shouted as he got to his feet. "She's probably gone to watch one of the matches."

Taking a few hurried steps away from the edge he followed Korra's lead and leaped off the edge. Before gravity could take hold though, he sent continuous blasts of Firebending from both his feet and used the blasts of fire from his hands to direct him. He had read about this ability in the histories of the Fire Nation, notably the fallen Princess Azula was quite adept at this ability using it several times in the course of her attempts to capture Avatar Aang. Unfortunately his control was not quite as great as the famed Fire Princess and about three-quarters of the way, he nose-dived into the bay. Catching his breath and recovering slightly, he proceeded to swim the rest of the way.

Having arrived at the edge of the bay closest to the arena, Korra launched herself onto one of the higher balconies using Waterbending. Skillfully landing inside, she used Waterbending to remove the excess water from her clothes. Wringing the last of it out of her ponytail by hand, she searched for a way to get to the arena floor. Taking the nearest entrance, she realized she had made a mistake, when she found that it was a training room, most likely used by the athletes.

Turning back the way she came, she was about to leave when she was caught by an older graying man, who seemed well-built for a man his age. "Hey! What are you doing in my gym?" he asks grumpily.

Grimacing slightly at being caught, she concocted an excuse on-the-fly, hoping it would work. "Hi, I was looking for the bathroom, but I got hopelessly lost."

It didn't work. "Oh, the old 'I have to pee' excuse. You know, I'm sick and tired of you kids sneaking in without paying. I'm taking you to security."

"No wait, I can explain." Korra replied, trying to keep the man from carrying out his threat. Before she could, however, a new voice entered the conversation.

"There you are!" The young man cried. He was wearing some kind of uniform and had a slightly stocky and muscled build. If that wasn't enough of a hint as to his heritage, she could see when he came closer; he also had the traditional forest-green eyes of an Earth Kingdom native. "I've been looking everywhere for you." He turned to the apparent proprietor of the exercise area and continued. "It's alright Toza, she's with me."

Korra was quick to seize the opportunity. "Yeah, I'm with him."

"So you see, we're together."

Frowning slightly, Korra tried to clarify the situation. "Well, not 'together' together. More like friends."

"Of course, I didn't mean to imply-"

Before he could finish his sentence though, Korra interrupted him. "Oh, you implied it." Her eyes narrowing slightly as she looked at him from the corner of her eye.

The owner finally lost his patience. "Oh, I don't care what you are!" He cried, throwing the towel that was hanging around his neck, on the ground, and walking away.

"Right this way Miss." The young man said, gesturing to the entrance. As they walked away Korra noticed that the gym owner bent a barbell off to the side.

"Thank you sir." She said as she followed him out. As they reached the entrance she whispered again. "Seriously. Thanks a lot."

A few minutes passed and the young man opened another door. "What do you think? Best seats in the house, huh?" He said with a slightly smug tone.

Korra suddenly realized where she was. This was the prep area for one of the teams competing tonight. "Wow. Unbelievable." She muttered, awestruck. "This place is amazing."

While she was busy admiring the view. The other team-members walked in and removed their protective gear from the lockers in the corner. "Name's Bolin, by the way." The young man finally introduced himself.

"Korra." She replied, not really paying attention to the conversation.

One of Bolin's teammates called him over. "Psst! Bolin!"

Bolin jogged over to him. "Yeah?"

"I told you, stop bringing your crazy fangirls in here before the matches." The teammate replied, donning the rest of his protective gear. "Get her out of here."

"Aww, come on Mako! Alright look, I kind of promised her she could stay. But man, I've got a good feeling about her." Bolin tried to explain. "There's something special about her."

So saying, he went back to Korra to introduce her to Mako. "Come here, there's someone I want you to meet. This is my brother Mako."

Korra recognized the name almost immediately. "Mako?! Wow, I heard you play on the radio."

"Come on Bolin. We're up." Mako replied shortly, donning his helmet.

"Or I could meet him later." Korra added, slightly down.

Bolin tried to smooth things over. "Yeah, sorry. My brother just gets really focused before a match." He finished by putting on his own helmet and adding. "Gotta go, wish me luck. Not that I'll need it." He said with a confident smile, running over to join his brother to cross to the arena.

"Good luck! Knock 'em out!" Korra cried excitedly.

As he reached the edge of the bay, he got out and, using Firebending breathing techniques, he increased his body temperature to dry himself out. Naruto reached the arena and was able to get inside. Being part of the Order of the White Lotus had its perks. Especially when he informed them that he was there looking for the avatar. The female ticket attendant he spoke with seemed very excited to help. She was an attractive girl of Earth Kingdom descent with traditional green eyes and black hair pulled back in a high ponytail with two bangs framing her face. "Oh! The Avatar?! I'd be happy to help you find her sir. Though I have to say, I would have remembered seeing her." She blushed lightly saying so.

'Probably has a slight crush on Korra.' He thought to himself as he started to make his way to the stands.

The match was well under way when he was halfway through his search of the stands.

'I'm starting to think this was a poor decision.' He thought as he continued searching. 'I should just head back to the island and wait for her there.'

Just as he was about to head back to the exit, he spotted a young woman in distinctly Water Tribe garb, standing in one of the team-boxes. Turning to the attendant he said: "Excuse me, can you tell me how to reach that team-box over there." Gesturing to the box, while carefully avoiding drawing her attention to Korra.

"Oh yes sir. Follow me." She said, turning and heading toward the nearest exit. She guided him through the seeming maze of hallways. Finally she came to a stop outside a door that seemed to match all the other doors nearby.

"Thank you very much for the help good lady." He said, bowing slightly, and waiting for her to leave. After she had disappeared around a corner he reached for the door handle. Before he could open the door however, someone else came storming out.

The Fire Ferrets, fortunately, won the match, thanks in large part to luck and Mako's skillful maneuvering in the final round, so they would be continuing on to the next round. Bolin reached Korra first, and he was extremely excited about the result. "Woohoo! One more win, and we're in the Championship Tournament!" he shouted excitedly. Calming down he added, trying to sound charming, "So, what'd you think Korra? Bolin's got some moves, huh?"

Korra barely controlled her own excitement. "What did I think?! What did I THINK?! That was amazing!" she cried, shoving him across the room in excitement.

Mako and the third teammate joined them just then. "You did more harm than good out there Hasook. You almost cost us the match."

"We won, didn't we?" Hasook replied, removing his helmet and heading to the door.

"Barely!" Mako shouted at his back. "Useless." He added as Hasook disappeared.

"You guys were incredible out there. Especially you Mr. 'Hat Trick'." Korra said excitedly.

"Oh, you're still here?" Mako replied, brushing off her excitement.

"Oh, you're still a jerk." Korra said, frowning and dripping with sarcasm.

As Bolin was about to speak, the door opened again. Thinking it was Hasook, everyone turned to the door. Everyone was surprised, none more so than Korra, to find a young man dressed in dark blue robes entering the locker room.

"Naruto! What are you doing here?!" Korra cried out in surprise.

"What do you think? I'm here looking for you. It's my job to guard you remember?" Naruto asked sarcastically.

"Wait, why would you have a bodyguard?" Bolin asked, turning to Korra for the answer.

"Well, I'm the Avatar." Korra replied, slightly self-conscious.

"Wow!" Bolin cried excitedly. "So who's he?" He asked gesturing to Naruto.

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki. I'm a member of the Order of the White Lotus assigned to protect Korra." He glared slightly at Korra as he added, "Which I can't do if I don't know where you are."

Korra seemed slightly mollified and embarrassed by this and mumbled a quick apology. She continued. "I was just so angry at Tenzin-"

Before she could continue with her rant, Naruto cut her off, "Avatar Korra, shouldn't we perhaps continue this discussion in private?" He said, gesturing for them to leave.

"Oh! Yeah! Thanks for letting me watch the match guys." She said, waving goodbye to them.

As they made their way back to the island, Naruto spoke up again. "So, did you have fun?"

"It was great! The way they were bending, it was like they were using different styles."

"It may only seem that way, because the styles were all modified to allow for quick strikes."

"But that kind of runs counter to everything I learned about Earthbending."

"Not if you plant your feet just before you strike." Naruto elaborated.

"That's true. I should try that out the next time I get the chance."

"You should probably get the Airbending training down before you try any other projects."

"You're probably right." She said with a slight sigh.

Their rest of their trip back to the temple was completed in companionable silence.

The next morning as Naruto watched Korra's training, it seemed like nothing had changed. In fact, after charging in head-first several times she completely lost her temper and unleashed her Firebending on the spinning boards.

As she stood in the middle of the completely destroyed training area, breathing heavily, Tenzin also seemed to lose his patience. "That was a 2,000 year old historical relic." He began slowly. "What... What is wrong with you?!"

"There's nothing wrong with me!" Korra shouted defensively. "I've been practicing everything you taught me, but it's just not sinking in, okay." She continued, seeming to collapse in on herself. "It hasn't clicked like you said it would."

Tenzin frowned, as he replied. "Korra, this isn't something you can force if you'd only listen to me-"

She angrily cut him off. "I have been! You know what I think, maybe the problem isn't me, maybe the reason I haven't been able to learn Airbending yet is because you're a terrible teacher."

'Oooh! That's a low blow.' Naruto thought to himself, grimacing slightly.

So saying, she stormed off. Jinora and Ikki hugged their father consolingly. Naruto followed Korra, partly to offer support, and partly as part of his job.

"Damn it!" Korra shouted when she was a fair distance away.

Naruto followed along silently behind her.

Finally they reached the cliff edge. They stood in silence, Korra huffing away trying to calm down.

Thinking he should be the first to broach the subject, Naruto began speaking. "Exploding at Tenzin like that is really not going to help in the long run."

"I know damn it!" she shouted. She suddenly realized her mistake. "Sorry." She muttered dejectedly and dropped to the ground, dangling her feet over the edge.

"It's completely understandable." He said as he joined her, a small smile on his face. "So you wanna go and watch the Fire Ferrets' next match?"

She looked at him in slight surprise.

"What? Do I have something on my face?"

"I just didn't think you'd let me go again?"

"It's a good way to get your mind off training. And who knows, maybe you'll learn something you can use in your training tomorrow. Also, I'm here to protect you. As long as I know where you're going and I accompany you, it doesn't matter where you go."

So saying, they got up and made their way to the ferry heading for the city.

That evening everyone was seated at the dinner table. Everyone except for Korra and Naruto.

"So, everyone ready?" Pema asked, walking into the dining room with the tray of food. She immediately noticed not everyone was present. "Wait. Where are Korra and Naruto?" She asked, frowning slightly.

"Honestly Pema, I am at my wits' end with that girl. I don't know how to get through to her." Tenzin said in an irritated tone.

"And Naruto?"

Jinora chose to answer, glancing up from her book. "I saw him following her when she left training this morning."

Pema kneeled down next to her husband. "Dear, the best thing you can do right now is to give Korra some space."

Tenzin glanced over to his daughters. "You must promise me that your teenage years won't be like this."

Jinora glanced up from her reading. "I make no such promises." She said in a deadpan.

Korra and Naruto made their way to the Fire Ferrets' locker room. "You know, I think that ticket girl may be a fan." Naruto said, a small grin on his face.

"Not another word."

They had the fortune (or misfortune, if you asked Korra) of meeting the same girl who helped Naruto the first night he came to the stadium. She was as eager to help them this time as she was when she helped Naruto. This is to say, very eager.

She seemed to favour Korra especially. Every time she was able to touch Korra, a certain look passed over her face that seemed to indicate that if she were struck dead at that very moment, she would die happy. Eventually, they found themselves outside the Fire Ferrets' locker room. They entered to find the two brothers sitting dejectedly, as if waiting for a verdict from a judge.

Korra regarded them both and asked. "We didn't miss your match, did we?"

Naruto added, "Yeah, because it looks like you lost already."

"We might as well have." Bolin began.

"Hasook's a no-good no-show." Mako growled in irritation.

A few minutes later, the referee stuck his head in the door and said, "You got two minutes to come out, ready to play, or you're disqualified." Shutting the door again as he left.

"Well, there goes our shot at the tournament." Mako said in defeat. "And the winnings."

"I don't suppose you can ask one of those guys to fill in, huh?" Naruto asked, trying to offer a solution.

"Nah, the rules say you can only compete on one team." Bolin explains.

"Well, what about me?" Korra started, hand on her chest. "I'm a top-notch Waterbender, if I do say so myself."

"You're the Avatar, wouldn't that be cheating?"

"If she only uses Waterbending, there shouldn't be a problem." Naruto explained.

"No way! I'd rather forfeit, than look like an idiot out there." Mako said indignantly.

'Asshole.' Naruto thought to himself.

"Wow, thanks for the vote of confidence." Korra muttered annoyed.

The referee appeared again. "Time's up. You in or out."

"They're in." Naruto replied, before anyone could say otherwise.

 **A/N: I'm ending it here. Sorry if it seems like a cliffy. Thanks to Five Heads Of The Cobra for beta'ing**


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: I have to apologise to my beta. I incorrectly gave the name The Five Heads Of The Cobra when it was actually The Five Heads Of The Hydra.**

Chapter 3

"What?! We are?!" Mako shouted.

"YES!" Korra exclaimed, pumping both fists in the air in excitement.

"You are," Naruto repeated, settling the matter.

"You can thank us later," Korra added as she made her way to the lockers.

"This girl is crazy," Mako muttered in a defeated tone.

A few minutes later the two teams were assembled on their specific sides of the fields.

"Looks like the Fire Ferrets were able to scrounge up a last-minute replacement Waterbender." The commentator began, and then added, "Let's see if she's another diamond in the rough like the brothers from the school of hard knocks."

As they took their stances, Mako whispered. "Don't do anything fancy or aggressive. In fact, don't do anything. Just try not to get knocked off the ring."

"You got it, Captain." Korra replied angrily, nudging her faceguard back into place.

"Players, are you ready?!" The referee shouted, then blew a blast of shrill sound from his whistle.

Before he finished, Korra let loose with a kick, blasting her opposite number with a shot of water, sending him cart wheeling over the side. With an excited shout of "Man overboard!" , she did a little victory dance in her spot before she was rudely brought back to earth by the sound of the referee's whistle.

"Fire Ferret Waterbender, penalty. Move back one zone."

She asked indignantly, "What the hell! Why?"

Mako explained in frustration. "You're only supposed to knock opponents off the back of the ring. Not the sides."

"Whoops..." Was her only answer as she made the required change.

The bell sounded and the match continued but, as Naruto watched from the Ferrets' locker-room, the situation did not improve. Korra spun and dove as she fired off shot after shot of water, but she could not quite seem to get the chance to hit anyone, and after a particularly vigorous shot, she accidentally stepped over the line.

Immediately, the referee's whistle was heard. "Foul! Over the line! Move back to zone three."

Korra grit her teeth and growled in frustration, "I'll show you 'over the line'."

Due to all the illegal shenanigans the Platypus-Bears were declared the winners of the first round.

As the new round started, it seemed the Platypus-Bears had realized the weak point in the Ferrets' team was definitely the new girl

The commentator echoed this. "The Platypus-Bears know a green player when they see one, and they are focusing the brunt of their attacks on this poor girl."

Korra tried to defend the multitude of attacks. It was quite impressive all things considered, but just not good enough.

As one double-team attack from the Earth- and Waterbender were about to strike, Korra – in a moment of frustration – channel Earthbending and used some of the nearby stone discs to block the attack.

'Oh Korra.' Naruto thought as he witnessed this display.

The commentator gave voice to everyone's confusion at that moment. "Did that Waterbender just Earthbend?"

Even the referee seemed confused on how to call it. "Foul… I think."

Korra looked around with a nervous smile on her face as the crowd gasped.

The commentator shouted excitedly, "Folks… Yes, that is indeed the Avatar taking part in a Pro-Bending match!"

As the realization hit the referees, they disappeared to confer on what ruling to make regarding this unexpected occurrence.

Meanwhile, Tenzin was walking around the compound looking for Korra or Naruto. Finally after looking everywhere he could think of, he went to ask Jinora as she seemed to know where Naruto was. I he could find him, he would be able to find Korra.

"Jinora, do you happen to know where Naruto might be." He asked as he stood by her door.

"He said something about taking Korra to the Pro-Bending Arena." She said disinterestedly, not even looking up from the book she was reading.

"WHAT!?" Tenzin exploded, and stormed off to go and get them.

The referees finally reappeared. One stepped forward and spoke. "The Avatar will be allowed to compete, as long as she solely bends water."

The Platypus-Bears groaned in frustration at the loss of the possibility of an easy win. As the new round started though, they had decided to focus the brunt of their attacks on her, leaving the brothers unable to come to her aid.

"The Avatar she may be, but this girl is no Pro-Bender and the Platypus-Bears are intent on exploiting that weakness." The commentator began as Korra tried to divert or block every disc that came her way, with mixed success. "They're giving her their best and her best ain't good enough to stop it." He continued as she was sent rolling along the arena floor, until finally…

"Aaannd she's in the drink." The commentator finished as she flew over the edge and into the water below.

'Dammit Korra! You have to focus. Dodge! Dodge! Dodge!' Naruto shouted in his head. He almost didn't notice when Tenzin stormed past him and used the lift to get down to the water's edge.

"Tenzin! How did he find out?!"

As Korra stumbled out of the water, she heard an unexpected voice. "Having fun, are we?"

"Oh, hey Tenzin. I thought you didn't like coming to these matches." She began, chuckling weakly all the while.

"Once again you have flagrantly disobeyed my orders-"

"Hey! This was Naruto's idea as much as mine!" Korra cried defensively.

"Oh don't worry; I will be having a word with him momentarily. You were to stay on the island." Tenzin continued. "Let's go!" he cried as he made to leave.

While they were arguing the buzzer could clearly be heard. Unfortunately Korra could not know whether it was the Bears or the Ferrets who were losing ground.

"No!" Korra shouted. "I'm kind of in the middle of something."

"I have tried my very best to get through to you by being gentle and patient, but clearly the only thing you respond to is force. So I am ordering you to come back to the temple right now."

"Why? So I can sit around and meditate all day about how bad I am at Airbending?" Korra growled sarcastically. "You know, I'm beginning to think there's a reason I haven't mastered Airbending, because maybe I don't even need it!" She shouted.

Tenzin lost his temper. "What! That is a ludicrous suggestion. The Avatar needs to learn Airbending. It is not optional."

"No! This is what I need to be learning, modern styles of bending." She said as she gestured to the arena.

"Being the Avatar isn't all about fighting, Korra. When will you learn that?"

"I have a match to go finish," she muttered, heading towards the lift.

"And the Platypus-Bears win round two!" the announcer cried as the lift made its way to the top. Tenzin decided to leave through the bottom entrance.

Soon after, round three began. If the Ferrets didn't win this round, they would be disqualified from the competition.

As soon as the bell sounded, there was a flurry of flames, earth discs and gouts of water as the round became heated. "The Platypus-Bears come out of the gate and immediately go after the Ferret brothers. They're corralled in the corner, wedged in the edge of Zone 1, unable to come to the Avatar's rescue. And boy does she need it."

Both the Bears' Earth- and Firebender were hammering Korra with blows and it looked like this round was heading for a swift repeat of the previous one. Tenzin reached the final exit from the stands, when he decided to stay and watch the end-result.

It didn't look good as Korra was being knocked back zone by zone until she was teetering on the edge, and Tenzin was waiting for the inevitable, his face in his hand. Then, from out of nowhere…

"Hold the phone! Stop the presses! She's still in the game folks!" Korra was dodging and weaving around the shots.

"Yes! She's finally getting it!" Naruto cried in excitement as he watched Korra slip past the Bears' attacks.

"Well, I'll be," Tenzin whispered, unknowingly echoing Naruto's thoughts.

"She's moving like an entirely different player. All of a sudden the Platypus-Bears' strikes are only striking air!" The commentator continued excitedly.

Whatever her strategy was, it seemed to be working as the Platypus Bears' shots were beginning to lose power until finally, the most recent blast of water aimed at Bolin and Mako failed to reach them. They immediately took advantage, leaping into action.

"Mako and Bolin are fresh and juicy." The commentator continued as the brothers continued to hammer the Bears' with blasts of earth and fire, Korra still helping with a little water from behind.

Finally the last of the team's members went flying over the rear edge of the ring and the buzzer sounded for a final time as the Fire Ferrets were declared the victors.

As Bolin and Korra were high-fiving each other Mako came over. "Korra," he began, "What can I say; you really came alive in that last round. The way you dodged their attacks, you are a natural."

"Thanks, but I can't take all the credit." She continued, as a small smile slipped onto her face. "Someone else taught me those moves."

They made their way to the lockers where Naruto was waiting. "Yes!" he shouted as they came within earshot. "I knew you'd figure it out." Naruto shouted as he grabbed her in a bear-hug and lifting her over his head. For a moment they simply stared into each other's eyes.

"Well, well. Aren't we getting buddy-buddy?" Bolin said with a smirk.

This seemed to break the spell for both of them and they hurriedly disentangled themselves.

"We should probably get back to the island." Naruto said hurriedly, looking anywhere but at Korra.

"Yeah, you're probably right. See you guys tomorrow." Korra said, quickly heading toward the exit.

They finally made their way back to the island, to find Tenzin and the Air Acolytes busy reassembling the Airbender gates.

"I'll leave you here then." Naruto said, hurrying away before Korra could think to say anything.

As she made her way to Tenzin, she began to apologize. "I'm really sorry… about everything I said. I was frustrated with myself and I took it out on you."

"I think I owe you an apology as well. I tried to teach you about patience, and I lost mine."

"No hard feelings?" She asked, smiling slightly.

"Of course not. By the way, you were really good out there tonight. You moved just like an Airbender."

"You stayed and watched?" She asked, completely surprised.

"I did. Pro-Bending turned out to be the perfect teaching tool for you."

"I'll see you tomorrow for Airbending practice, bright and early." She said as she hurried away, and then added, "By the way, I kind of permanently joined the Fire Ferrets and we're playing in the tournaments in a couple of weeks."

Tenzin merely uttered a long-suffering sigh.

As Naruto lay in bed that night, he thought about what had happened at the arena.

'That Bolin is such an idiot. Korra is just a friend. A really good friend. Yeah, that's it Naruto, keep telling yourself that.'

He could appreciate her beauty aesthetically of course. Her smooth mocha-colored skin. The powerful muscles hidden beneath. Her eyes as blue as the skies over her polar homeland.

"Now I need to go and cool off, otherwise I'm really not going to get any sleep."

So saying, he got up and headed outside. Thinking that everybody would be asleep anyway, he did not put on a shirt. Even though it was getting colder in the evenings, he was never really troubled by the cold. He assumed it was a trait of his being a Firebender, because he had found early on that his body heat seemed to radiate outwards in small cocoon almost. Whatever the cause, he had never had much difficulty with the cold.

He finally found a pool that looked secluded enough for his purposes and slowly waded in. As soon as he felt he had reached the right depth, he dove in. He proceeded to swim a few lengths and tried to clear his head from the thoughts. If the Order found out, he would be replaced, unless he left of his own volition. And he could not do that.

He had grown quite fond of the Avatar in the short time he had been assigned to her. She was loyal, kind, friendly and had nearly unstoppable determination once she set her mind on something.

Yes, she was an admirable person indeed.

Unknown to Naruto, Korra had similar thoughts as she lay awake in bed.

'Stupid Bolin and his stupid comments.' She thought as she pounded her pillow into a more comfortable shape. She wouldn't argue that Naruto was handsome. That was one of the things that she noticed when they first met, after all, but that didn't mean that she was some starry-eyed teenager with a personality shallower than a puddle that would be attracted to every hot guy she saw.

As she lay staring up at the ceiling, her mind still wouldn't leave the subject of Naruto. 'Maybe a swim would get my mind to calm down.' She thought as she got out of bed. Hailing from a part of the world with much colder weather, she was only dressed in a sleeveless shirt and trousers. She made her way outside and as she started looking for a place to swim, she came upon an unexpected sight.

Naruto was swimming in the pool ahead. Creeping as quietly as possible, she hid behind some nearby trees and looked on as Naruto proceeded to climb out of the pool. As more of his body became visible, she could not help but admire his trim and chiseled physique. His blond hair hung limply along the sides of his face as he proceeded to dry himself off. Taking a few deep breaths, he headed back inside.

'Wow, that robe really does hide a lot.' She thought as she continued to hide behind the trees. He had been gone for almost 30 minutes, before Korra chanced to leave the safety of the shrubbery. Her mind completely diverted from swimming, she headed back to her room in a daze.

The following morning finds Korra practicing with her new teammates in one of the training rooms of the Arena. Naruto was sitting cross-legged nearby, dividing his time between meditating and watching them train. Currently they were passing a medicine ball alternately between each other.

As Korra caught the ball at one point, she commented with a frown. "What's the big idea with making me train this early in the morning?" Frowning, she added, "The morning is evil."

"We're the rookies, so we get the worst time-slot in the gym." Bolin answered.

"And you're the rookie-est of us all." Mako added. "We've gotta get you up to speed if we wanna survive in the tournament. Deal with it." With that he forcefully passed the ball back to her.

"You deal with it." Was Korra's childish reply as she passed it back to him with more force.

Mako seemed to misjudge the strength behind the pass. As soon as he caught it, the momentum sent him flying backward and rolling along the ground.

"Oooh, that had to hurt." Was Naruto's only comment.

"There are my hard-working little street urchins." A new voice cried as the gym door opened.

Korra and the others turned to greet the visitor. He was a large man with a moustache and dressed in formal Earth Kingdom attire. Though he seemed friendly, Naruto didn't quite trust him.

He laid his hand on Korra's shoulder and greeted her in a gravelly voice. "It's an honor to finally meet you Avatar."

"And you are?" She asked with a slight frown.

"Butakha, I run this whole Pro-Bending shebang," he answered, gesturing around them with his hat.

Taking this as a signal that practice was over for the moment, Korra moved off to speak with Naruto. As she approached, Naruto spoke. "I know this is probably unnecessary, but I wouldn't trust that man as far as I could throw him if I were you."

They watched as the prize money Mako and Bolin were able to earn dwindled to nothing due to various deductions. Finally, Butakha's last comment seemed to take the all their energy out of them. "Oh, one more small item of business. The Fire Ferrets need to ante up 30 000 yuans for the championship pot."

"30 000 yuans?!" Bolin shouted incredulously.

"Sorry kids." Butakha seemed to show a shred of sympathy. "You got until the end of the week to come up with the dough or else… you're out of the tournament." With that he left.

Trying to act nonchalant, Bolin turned Korra as she approached them and asked, "You wouldn't happen to have a secret Avatar bank account overflowing gold, would you?"

She pulled out the insides of her pockets as answer and added, "I got nothing. I've never really needed money. I've always had people taking care of me."

Mako growled in reply as he tidied up the gym, "Then I wouldn't say you have nothing."

"Sorry, I didn't mean…" Korra tried to apologize.

"No, it's okay," Bolin replied, and then continued, "It's just that ever since we lost our parents, we've been kind of on our own."

Korra apologized again before Naruto tried to steer the conversation back on track. "So anyway, what are you guys gonna do about the money, because in case you were wondering I'm not swimming in gold either." He said as he made his way toward them.

"Oh, oh! I got it! I've been training Pabu to do circus tricks. Now, people would pay good money to see that." Bolin said as he crouched down and grabbed Pabu.

"Come on Bolin. I meant seriously." Was Mako's exasperated reply.

"I was being serious." Bolin muttered dejectedly.

"Don't worry about it." Mako said, ignoring Bolin. "I'll think of something, I always do."

As Mako walked away, Bolin face morphed into an expression of determination and defiance.

'He's definitely planning something that could either end embarrassingly or with him landing in hot water.' Naruto thought as he watched the team's interactions.

Naruto decided to follow him, hoping to curb whatever trouble Bolin might end up in. He proceeded to explain this to Korra. "Listen, I'm gonna follow Bolin okay?" he whispered to her.

"What? Why?" She whispered fiercely.

"Because, oh mighty Avatar, I think he's heading for trouble. He's planning something that could land him in hot water."

"Fine. I'll be on the island, practicing my Airbending." And so saying, they left.

Naruto accompanied her until they were both outside the arena. As Korra made her way to the ferry, Naruto waited outside, keeping a careful eye out for Bolin. After nearly an hour of waiting, he spotted him. He was carrying a bag over his shoulder, but it was what the way he was dressed that nearly caused him to collapse to the ground in fits of laughter.

A few hours later we find Bolin sitting in front of a magnificent statue of Fire Lord Zuko. He was dressed as a carnival barker, even going so far as to don a decidedly fake handlebar moustache. He had made a makeshift bridge using two cups and a small model ladder. His cries drifted across the area for quite a distance.

"Come one, come all! See Pabu, The Fantastic Fire Ferret, as he crosses The Ladder Of Peril!" he gasps dramatically and continues. "Upside down!" For a moment, nothing seems to happen as Pabu continues to wash himself without a care in the world, then Bolin seems to get his attention. He then proceeds to waddle across on his front paws only, flipping to land on one front paw when he reached the other side.

"Tadaa!" Bolin shouts, gesturing dramatically to Pabu. One passer-by drops a coin into the nearby tin. "Thank you ladies and gentlemen! You are too kind, seriously, too kind. You can come by and drop money right in this… okay that's fine." He stops rambling as he looks into the tin to see what he has gathered so far.

Naruto was watching all this from a nearby corner of the base of the statue. The entire show struck as kind of sweet in a way, but not something that would make a lot of money very fast, which is the kind of solution their current predicament requires.

As he continued to watch Bolin he became instantly suspicious when a Satomobile slowed down and stopped right in front of Bolin. The vehicle was loud and painted a bright red, with gold trim in places. Overall, the vehicle seemed like it belonged to a braggart. Said owner stuck his head out the newly opened window and proceeded to speak to Bolin. Naruto couldn't quite hear what was being said, but he was able to make out that the driver's name was Shady Shin, and that he wanted Bolin to go with him to another destination.

'With a name like that, why would anyone trust him?' Naruto thought, slowly shaking his head.

For a moment it didn't seem like Bolin would go with him. The showboat then tossed a large wad of money into Bolin's tin. His expression was all the answer Naruto needed to confirm Bolin's decision. Mere moments later, Bolin jumped in the idiot's vehicle and sped away with a roar.

"I'd better let Korra know." Naruto whispered to himself. So saying, he hurried away.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Jinora and Ikki were helping Korra with her practice moving through the Airbending gates. As the gates stop spinning Korra stopped for a moment to catch her breath. She was getting better at it the more she practiced, though she still couldn't physically Airbend.

"You're getting much better at the basics Korra. You'll be Airbending before you know it." Jinora said.

As Korra was bent over, catching her breath after her most recent foray through the gates, an unexpected visitor appeared. Jinora and Ikki noticed him as he came walking up the stairs.

"Hey Korra, isn't that one of your teammates?" Jinora said, pointing behind her.

Korra seemed surprised for a moment, before standing up and turning around to see who it was. "Hey Mako, what are you doing here?"

"Have you seen Bolin?" was the only reply.

"Hello to you too. And no, I haven't seen him since practice this morning, though Naruto would know."

"Why would Naruto know?" Mako asked, frowning slightly in suspicion.

The answer came from the current subject of their conversation. "Well, I thought the poor guy might get himself in trouble, and I think he might have."

They turned to just in time to see that Naruto had just finished walking up the stairs. "What do you mean?" Korra asked.

"Well, he had been performing that supposed circus act that he mentioned at the end of practice." Naruto began.

"Yeah? I can imagine that went about as well as can be expected?" Mako replied, snorting scornfully.

"You would be right." Naruto said with a slight smirk, but then became serious. "It was going pretty much as you'd expect, until some flashy idiot showed up in an even flashier car – if that's possible – and dropped a fat wad of cash in his money-tin."

"That doesn't sound good." Korra said, frowning slightly, then asked. "Did he say what he wanted?"

"Unfortunately, I couldn't make out what they were saying most of the time. I was however able to overhear that the guy's name is Shady Shin."

"Shady Shin?!" Mako exclaimed. "Damnit Bolin!" He made to storm off, when Korra suddenly grabbed him by the shoulder.

"Who is Shady Shin?" She asked, a frown creasing her brow.

"He's a member of the Triple Threat Triad, one of the more powerful local gangs."

"What would your brother be doing with them?" Naruto asked, slightly puzzled.

"I'll explain later. Right now, I have to find him."

"Hang on, I'll get Naga to help." Korra said as she ran off to fetch her.

"Who's Naga?" Mako asked.

"A great tracker, that's all I'll say for now." Naruto answered.

"Mako, meet my best friend, Naga." Korra said as she reappeared, astride the huge polar bear-dog.

"Of course your best friend is a polar bear-dog. I probably should have expected that." Mako replied, scratching the back of his head.

"Yes, you should have." Naruto said smugly, then added. "Listen, you guys go on ahead. I'll check to see if anyone else knows anything at the square where Bolin was performing."

"What makes you think you're gonna be able to find anything new?" Mako asked.

"Oh, don't worry, I have my ways."

And so the group took off, separating once they reached the mainland.

Shortly after Naruto arrived in Republic City he had made a note of the people worth knowing in the city. Naturally, these weren't the politicians or big business owners or anybody like that. These were people like bounty hunters, mercenaries and various others who skirted the edge between legal and illegal. He had heard that the woman he was searching for was in town for a job. He had met her on one of his previous jobs, when she and he were both hired as extra muscle to protect a local lord.

Naruto arrived at the pub and restaurant to find that it was almost completely empty. He had heard from those in the area that this place had the best sake in town, so chances were high that he would find her here. He looked around at the few patrons who were present and immediately made his way toward her.

"Good evening, my lady, would you mind if I joined you?" he asked courteously.

"Just shut up and sit down you idiot. I noticed you when you came in." The woman said nearly shouting.

Sitting down, Naruto regarded the woman across from him. Her shoulder length hair was done up in her usual high ponytail. She wore a brown trench-coat that came down to her knees. Her hair colour had always puzzled him, though he had never had sufficient opportunity or reason to ask if it was naturally purple or some kind of dye that she washed her hair with.

"So, what can I do for you Uzumaki?" She asked gruffly.

"Well Anko, I don't really have a lot of time, so I'll make this quick. Have you heard of anything happening with the local gangs that they would have to hire freelancers for?"

"Maybe a gang war? I don't really know. I haven't been here long enough to find out the local news." She said, shrugging slightly and taking a sip of her sake.

"Do you at least know between who?" Naruto asked, slightly losing his patience.

"I just know the Red Monsoons, the Agni Kais and the Triple Threat Triad are all gearing up for something big." Anko said, glancing to the rest of the bar.

"And why is that?"

"Look around. It's happy hour and no-one is here. This place is supposed to be packed at this hour. Plus, I the barman told me." She said, grinning.

"Well thanks for that. Do you by any chance know where their bases are?"

"Yeah, give me a chance to pay my bill and I'll show you." She said as she downed the last of her sake.

Naruto waited outside as she paid her bill and met him outside. "Let's check the Triple Threats first, their base is the closest."

"Lead the way."

She quickly walked around the corner, where they got into the driver's seat of a convertible Satomobile.

Naruto whistled as he drew closer. "That is a nice set of wheels you have there."

"Yeah. I got it mostly for any work I have in the city." She said as he got in the front passenger seat. It was a dark maroon colour with silver trim and the interior was done in black leather and some sort of expensive wood.

They took off with a roar for the Triple Threats' base.

As they arrived, they saw a truck speeding out of the alley behind the building, with a polar bear-dog in hot pursuit.

"There's something you don't see every day." Anko commented with a raised eyebrow.

"I'll explain later, just follow that truck."

With a screech of tyres, they took off in pursuit.

"So, who are we following and why?" Anko asked after a few minutes.

"The guy is Mako, the girl is Korra." Came the short reply.

"You mean the Avatar? That explains the polar bear-dog. What's the guy's stake in this?"

"His brother was hired by the Triple Threat Triad as freelance muscle for some kind of job."

"Something tells me that 'job' involved the Equalists. It seems to have backfired." Anko said with a smirk.

Mako was the first to notice the new addition. "Hey, do you have any idea who could be following us?"

Korra shot a quick glance over her shoulder, then said. "No idea. Hopefully it's Naruto."

As they chased them through the streets, the buildings suddenly fell away as they reached a square. Without warning, one of the motorcyclists spun around and threw a pair of bolas at them. They struck Naga's legs and stopped her dead. As she skidded to a stop, Naruto and Anko pulled up nearby. While Naga had skid to a stop with relatively little damage, Korra and Mako were sent flying by the forward momentum.

As they landed more of the masked bikers had stopped to aid their compatriot. They flipped through the air and landed nearby. Without preamble they attacked. As Korra punched a fireball at her attacker he jumped and avoided it completely. He blocked her one arm and avoided her follow-up blast of fire. He struck at the back of her upper arm, putting her slightly off-balance. He blocked her punch for a third time and side-stepped a blast she kicked at him. Her next kick was answered with his own, crossing their legs in the air.

Before she could think to withdraw her leg, he crossed his over her own, pulling her leg back down and bringing her closer. He then performed a consecutive set of punches up her side from her waist to her wrists. A numb feeling passed through her arm and she was unable to use it for some reason. Switching to her other arm, she aimed another punch and a leg-sweep his way, trying to keep him at a distance. She leapt into the air, aiming another punch at him before she landed. She punched and kicked with all her might, but her opponent had an almost unnatural ability to avoid her strikes.

Naruto and Anko meanwhile, were trying to untie Naga, with limited success. They were still busy with that, when they heard Mako and Korra skid to a stop. When Naruto looked to assess the situation, he saw that both Korra and Mako were lying in a crumpled heap on the ground. The two Chi-Blockers were drawing near, swinging more bolas. Naruto sprang into action, kicking a blast of fire at the nearest one as he jumped through the air.

The masked men leaped away as the burst of fire landed nearby. Deciding that they had held them up long enough they retreated to their motorcycles, dropping two more grenades in the process and racing out of the cloud of noxious gas that was released.

Anko had finally released Naga who trotted over and helped Korra to her feet. Making a few practice punches, she saw that nothing happened. "Argh! I can't bend!" She punched again, with the same result. "Damnit! I can't bend!" An edge of panic creeping into her voice.

"Don't worry your pretty head honey, those were Chi-Blockers. What they did to you and your friend is only temporary." Anko answered as she made her way toward them.

Mako decided to ask what seemed to be the obvious question. "Okay, not to sound ungrateful, but who are you?"

"The name's Anko, pretty-boy. I'm an acquaintance of that ruggedly handsome specimen over there." She said, gesturing to Naruto.

Korra turned to Naruto, one eyebrow lifted as if to ask for confirmation. Naruto explained, "I met her a while back during another bodyguard job. We had both been hired to protect some sort of local lord if I remember correctly."

"That's it. Anyway, Naruto looked me up a few days after he arrived in town. He asked for my help again just after you two ran off to go look for your friend." Anko added.

"Speaking of which, those were Amon's henchmen. What would Amon want with the Triple Threat Triad?" Mako added.

"You mean they were Equalists? Yeah, that can't be good." Korra said, then added. "Wait a minute, when I first came to town I met one of those Equalist protestors in the park. We should see if he knows anything."

"Okay, you go be all heroic, I'm gonna go and get some sleep. See you around Naruto." She said winking. Then as she passed Mako, She stroked his shoulder and whispered. "You too cutie."

When she was safely out of earshot Korra turned to Naruto and said, "I thought it was illegal for the Order of the White Lotus to work with criminals."

As Naruto started walking he said, "She's technically not a criminal, since she's a bounty hunter, but since when does that matter to you?" After a few minutes of walking he turned and said, "Would one of you please take the lead, because I have no idea where I'm going."

By the time they reached the park the sky was lightening with the dawn. They reached a fountain when Korra came to a stop. Seeing the fountain, Naga stuck her mouth in and started inhaling the water with Pabu following suit.

Korra looked around and seemed to recognise her surroundings as she said. "Yeah, it was right around here."

"Well, it looks like we'll have to wait." Naruto said, walking off to stand under a nearby tree.

After she had seemingly drunk enough water, Naga joined him, lying down nearby. After a few more moments, Korra walked over. From her expression, it seemed she was mulling over something that was troubling her. "Hey, can I ask your opinion on something?"

"Sure Korra, what's up?" Naruto asked, his arms folded across his chest.

"Do you think Mako and Bolin are criminals?" Korra asked with the subtlety of a brick to the face.

"Well, speaking as a former criminal, I don't think it should matter." Naruto answered. "It's not always important what you were, so much as what you are. And don't ask him about it so bluntly, I don't think it will end well."

"Fine. I'll hold my peace." Korra replied as she sat down, resting her back against Naga's massive body.

Mako went to sit down on her right-hand side, thinking he should also rest while he could. As he made himself comfortable, Korra asked apparently out of nowhere. "If it's not too much to ask, what happened to your parents?"

Naruto palms his face, 'Subtle as a brick to the face Korra.'

For a moment it didn't seem like Mako would answer, then with a deep sigh: "They were mugged. By a Firebender, he cut them down right in front of me. I was eight." He slightly fondles the scarf around his neck.

"Mako..." Korra began, but couldn't really think what to say.

"Bolin's the only family I have left. If anything were to happen to him..." He didn't finish his sentence.

Eventually, Naruto also decided to sit down on Korra's other side for a while to get his energy back. After a couple of hours Mako and Korra both fell asleep: Korra resting her head on Naruto's shoulder and Mako sliding down, lying on the grass and resting his head against Naga.

The sun was shining down brightly through the treetops when Naruto decided to wake them up. Moving as little as possible, he turned his head to regard the beauty next to him. She was still sleeping peacefully against him and he decided to wake her before something else did.

"Korra." He whispered gently. "You have to wake up now."

"Uugh, what time is it?" She groans as she slowly joins the waking world.

As she fully wakened she glanced around. Her reaction when she found out that she was using Naruto's shoulder as a pillow was more indicative of someone who had lain their head on a heated plate. She nearly jumped away and started to apologise profusely.

Naruto merely smiled. "It's fine Korra. That's what I'm here for, isn't it?" He immediately changed the subject, hoping to spare Korra any more embarrassment. "That's the gentleman we've been searching for, if I'm not mistaken."

He smoothly made it to his feet, groaning softly in discomfort at having had to sit in the same position for so long. Mako and Korra quickly joined him as he made his way towards their target.

"Equality now! We want equality now!" he shouted loudly, aided by a megaphone, making it travel quite a distance.

"Non-benders of Republic City, Amon calls you to action! Take back your city, it's time for the-" Before he could finish his sentence however, Naruto and the others had drawn close enough for him to recognise some of them. More specifically, one of them.

"It's you again!" He shouted. Fortunately he did not use his megaphone, though that soon changed as he used it for his next verbal tirade. "You cannot silence me Avatar!"

Before Korra could vent her temper however, Naruto stepped in. "My good man, can we not have a civilised conversation?" He asked in a surprisingly calm tone.

"Wh-What?!" Surprised by the calmness of the new speaker, the protestor did not quite know how to react.

"I merely asked if you could climb off your proverbial soapbox so we can have a calm discussion."

"Okay." He said. He proceeded to put down the megaphone and got off the table to speak with them.

"So, a friend of ours was abducted last night. Would you have an inkling of an idea where they could have taken him?"

"No, but if he's a _bender_ he's probably got it coming."

"Oh dear. I had so hoped it would not come to this." Before the man could react, he had grabbed him in a headlock, made a dagger out of fire and held the point very close to his eye. He then spoke in a much more menacing tone. "I did not come here to belittle you or any of your friends, so why would you do that to me. I thought we could speak like civilised people, but clearly the only thing you understand is violence, so violence it is."

"Wait! Please! The revelation. They said something big was happening at the revelation."

"Is that what's on the pamphlets that you're handing out?"

"Yes, there are clues to the location on the back."

"Korra, grab a few and let's go." Naruto said as he shoved the man away and extinguished the flames.

During all this Korra and Mako were staring at the situation, both completely floored by what was happening.

"Hey, could you snap out of it and grab some of those pamphlets so we can go?" he asked again, this time much more calmly.

Korra seemed to react first. Quickly shaking he head, she grabbed a few and headed to Naga.

Naruto hurried to catch up. As he drew close to her, he laid his hand on her shoulder to stop her. "Hey, are you okay?"

She whirled around with a frown on her face as she shouted. "What were you thinking? You could have seriously hurt that guy."

"Sorry," he said as he raised his hand in a placating gesture, "but it didn't even cross that bigoted idiot's mind that I wouldn't hurt him."

"I always thought that the members of the White Lotus are pacifists who only use violence for defence."

"It's one of the reasons I'm not so popular with some of the elders. If it's for a justified reason, I will use any means necessary to do what I think is right."

"Tell me you weren't going to shake him around as soon as you got your hands on him."

"Well, yeah, but I wasn't going to hurt the guy, much."

"Exactly. Neither was I, but the man was being a prejudiced asshole."

As they were having this conversation they made their way to a nearby tram station to plan out their next move.

Mako decided to try and get the conversation back on track. "So anyone have any idea where this 'Revelation' is supposed to be held?"

Naruto sat down on the bench and looked at the pamphlets. "He said the clue to the location is on the back."

Mako looked at the backs. Suddenly he seemed to grasp what was on the back. "It's a map! Look," And with that, he lay the four sheets out.

"Oh yeah, but to where?" Naruto said. He noticed that there was a map of the city against the one wall. "Try using that as a reference." He said, pointing to the map.

Mako followed his advice and held the map up so that it covered certain parts of the city, one after the other. Until finally: "There! That must be where it's happening." Korra shouted as she noticed the match.

They decided that they would disguise themselves so that they would blend in with the other people who would be attending. Naruto and Korra especially, were normally to recognisable, especially Naruto with the White Lotus robes.

They met up again around the corner from the venue. As they walked up to the building they saw a large and imposing man barring entry to those with an invitation. As they approached him, he called out to them in a deep, sonorous voice. "This is a private event. No one comes enters without an invitation."

Naruto decided to speak for the group, "Invitation? You mean this?" With that, he pulled out one of the pamphlets they got from the protestor.

He glanced at it for a moment, then smiled and stepped aside. "The revelation is upon us, my brothers and sister." He said as he gestured to the door.

They made their way inside to what appeared to be the main room. The room they entered was quite large and yet it was nearly filled to capacity with people. At the opposite end of the room was a stage, which was currently empty.

"I knew a lot of people hated benders, but I've never seen so many in one place." Mako said as they approached a nearby rail.

"I know what you mean." Naruto said looking around.

"We should all keep an eye out for Bolin." Mako said as they made their down to join the rest of the crowd. Large spotlights ignited as they came to the front of the crowd. An announcer's voice thundered out across the group.

"Ladies and gentlemen. Please welcome, your hero, your saviour. Amon!" As he was working on the crowd, a trapdoor opened in the centre of the stage. An elevator lifted a man in distinctive white porcelain mask onto the stage, along with a mysterious man wearing green goggles and some kind of weapons sheathed on his back. Accompanying them was a whole host of Chi-Blockers.

"The guy in front must be Amon." Naruto whispered to the rest.

Amon stepped toward the nearby microphone and began to speak. "My quest for equality began many years ago. When I was a boy, my family and I lived on a small farm. We weren't rich and none of us were benders. This mad us very easy targets for the Firebender who extorted us. One day, my father confronted this man, when he did, that Firebender took my family from me. The, he took my face. I have been forced to hide behind a mask ever since."

He seemed to change the subject as he continued. "As most of you know, the Avatar has recently arrived in Republic City." The crowd immediately began booing. Amon merely continued speaking. "And if she were here, she would tell you that bending brings balance to the world. But she is wrong. The only thing bending has brought to the world is suffering. It has been the cause of every war, in every era."

Korra began to grit her teeth and growl in frustration. Naruto, sensing her mounting anger, laid a hand on her shoulder to try and comfort her and calm her down.

"That is now about to change," Amon continued his speech, "I know you have been wondering. What is the Revelation? You are about to get your answer. Since the beginning of time, the spirits have acted as guardians of our world. They have spoken to me. They say the Avatar has failed humanity. That is why the spirits have chosen me to usher in a new era of balance. They have granted me a power that will make equality a reality, the power to take a person's bending away. Permanently."

The crowd began to mutter amongst themselves. Most seemed disbelieving of his claim. Naruto seemed to share the prevailing sentiment. "I don't think he can do it. Or if he can, there has to be some kind of trick to it." He said as he kept his hand on Korra's shoulder.

Amon seemed to expect this. "Now for a demonstration. Please welcome, Lightning Bolt Zolt, leader of the Triple Threat Triad and one of the most notorious criminals in Republic City."

An older gentleman, late forties to early fifties in age, was brought on to the stage. He was leading a group of younger men. All of them were part of the Triple Threat Triad most likely. All except for one.

While the rest of the audience was booing Zolt and his cronies, Mako whispered to the others. "There! That's Bolin." Pointing surreptitiously so that Naruto knew which one he was talking about.

As Korra made to go on stage, Naruto stopped her. "Wait, fighting them all is a painful and most likely messy way to commit suicide. We need a plan to distract them."

Mako quickly looked around for another option. Amon was continuing his speech. "Zolt has amassed a fortune by abusing and extorting non-benders, but his reign of terror is about to come to an end." He gestured to Zolt. "Now in the interest of fairness, I will allow Zolt to fight to keep his bending."

Two Chi-Blockers moved to untie Zolt and stepped back as he got to his feet. "You're gonna regret doing that pal!" Zolt shouted snugly as he immediately let loose with a blast of fire aimed straight at Amon. Amon easily dodged to the side. Zolt continued to hurl fireball after fireball, but every shot was easily dodged by Amon until, finally, Zolt seemed to become desperate and launched a bolt of lightning. Amon dodged this last attack and grabbed Zolt by his extended wrist, the lightning blast continuing all the while. He smoothly and easily swung his arm, spinning Zolt around to face away from him, the lightning now flying harmlessly into the ceiling.

Grabbing Zolt by the back of the neck, Amon placed the thumb of his other hand on Zolt's forehead. For a few seconds nothing seemed to happen, then the lightning bolt dissipated and was replaced by fire. A few seconds later, even that sputtered and died out. Amon let go of Zolt, who proceeded to collapse to the ground. He lay there for a moment. He weakly tried to blast Amon with a fireball, to no avail. The crowd gasped as nothing happened. Gasping slightly Zolt muttered. "Wh-What did you do to me?"

"Your Firebending is gone." Amon said, then added with finality. "Forever" He turned to the crowd and said. "The era of bending is over. A new era of equality has begun."

As a horrified look passed over the three undercover benders, the crowd cheered excitedly. As the next member of the triad was untied and pushed toward Amon, Korra turned to the others. "So do either of you have an idea?"

"I think so." Mako replied, then turned to regard a system of pipes along one side of the building. "Those machines are machines are powered by water and steam. If you could use that to make some cover, I can grab Bolin and get him off the stage without anyone noticing."

"Sounds like a plan." Naruto said. Immediately they split up. Korra to go and get their cover sorted out and Mako moved closer to the stage. Naruto was in two minds for a moment and then ran off after Korra, staying true to his duty.

Korra carefully left the crowd and entered the nearest side-door. Looking around, she saw there was no one else in sight. She spotted some valves nearby and started opening the nearest one. Some steam escaped a nearby hole. "Still not enough." She muttered with a frown of concentration. She reached for another valve and was busy turning that when a new and unexpected voice was heard.

"Hey! What are you doing over there?!" The doorman approached.

"Is there a problem, my brother?" She asked trying to look innocent.

"I said what are you doing back here?"

"Looking for the bathroom?" She said unconvincingly.

The guard seemed to find her behaviour suspicious and was just reaching for a nearby wrench, when suddenly someone swept his legs out from under him. He hit the ground with a grunt, but before he could react further the same attacker followed up by striking him in the back of the neck, knocking him out.

"Really? 'I was looking for the bathroom?' Is that your go-to excuse?" Naruto said with a smirk, dusting off his hands.

"No, now help me out here would you." Korra said as she reached for another valve.

"That will take too long." Naruto kicked out and kick open one of the pipes. The resulting steam filled the hallway.

"Okay, that should do it."

Meanwhile, they were busy untying Bolin. Bolin was pushed to his feet and took a few shaky steps as Amon turned to face him.

"Um, hello Amon... sir. I think there's been a big misunderstanding." Bolin babbled as Amon slowly walked towards him.

Korra bent the steam and with a spin and a flourish it burst into the main hall and began to fill it with steam. The crowd quickly dispersed and fled the building. Sensing that there was trouble afoot, stepping to the back of the stage and seeming to disappear in the steam.

Bolin looked around in mounting fear, when a Chi-Blocker grabbed him from behind. Before he could react though, Mako grabbed the Chi-Blocker and threw the Chi-Blocker off of him. Turning around to see who had saved him was ecstatic to find his brother standing there. Bolin hugged him in happiness. Mako returned it and they both rushed off to get to the nearest exit.

 **A/N: I'm ending it here for now. Thanks for all the reviews and follows.**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Mako and Bolin made it outside and were busy climbing down a ladder to reach the ground below when they heard footsteps. Looking up, they were just in time to see Amon's lieutenant pull out his fighting sticks and electrocute the ladder.

They were blasted off and landed on the ground with a cry of pain. The lieutenant jumped down in pursuit. Getting to their feet, they made ready to defend themselves. Mako attacked first, sending a blast of fire at their attacker. He easily dodged it however and quickly used his electrified sticks to knock Mako's feet out from under him and followed up by hitting him in the stomach.

Bolin did a handstand, then flipped over and hurled the resulting boulder at the lieutenant. He dodged it by flipping over it and ran to close the distance between himself and Bolin, dodging Bolin's follow-up attack as well. Seeing this, Bolin raised a wall to defend himself, but the lieutenant easily flipped over the top and landed behind Bolin just as he was turning around. Before he could move to defend himself however, the lieutenant struck him repeatedly in the chest, finishing by stabbing him with both sticks hard in the chest.

As Bolin collapsed to the ground, Mako came leaping around the barricade to attack the lieutenant again. He kicked at the lieutenant as he landed. He followed up with another roundhouse kick, which destroyed the wall, when the first attack was dodged. The lieutenant rolled to the side and dodge the attack again, then swung his sticks at Mako's head. He dodged them, but before he could counter with a blast of fire, he was stabbed in the chest. He was further incapacitated by the follow-up double stab to the chest.

"You benders need to understand, there's no place in the world for you anymore." A few seconds after he finished his sentence, he was surprised by a blast of fire that struck him in the head, followed by a shelf of earth that launched him into the wall.

"I wouldn't count us out yet." Korra said as she and Naruto stood in a nearby doorway, ready to defend themselves. As the lieutenant collapsed, Korra called Naga, who stormed in with a roar. Naruto, Korra and Mako got on her back and they ran off. As they headed towards him, Bolin screamed, as it seemed as if the animal was about to attack him, but she merely grabbed him by the collar and continued running.

"I want. To be. On your back!" He shouted as his head ragdolled while they were running.

"The Avatar, that's her!" The lieutenant shouted as the Chi-Blockers ran to pursue them.

"Let her go!" Amon shouted, causing all of them to stop. "She's the perfect messenger to tell the city of my power."

On the ferry ride to the island Naruto tried to speak to Korra. "Hey, are you okay?"

She was leaning on the boat's rail, looking at the still-distant island. "No!" she shouted, growing agitated. "I just found out the world's biggest homicidal madman has an ability that could help him realise his goal of removing all the benders in the world."

"Listen, calm down. Most of what he said tonight was complete shit."

"What, like the fact that I've failed to bring balance to the world? That's true." She said, rounding on him.

"You haven't even finished your training! How can you be expected to keep balance in the world, when you aren't even a fully-realised Avatar yet? Look, I don't doubt that there is a possibility that he can talk to the spirits, but I don't think that they would teach him an ability like that." Naruto laid a hand on her shoulder. "So let's take it one day at a time, alright?"

"Okay." Korra replied, though still with a hint of worry on her face.

They had finally made it safely back to Air Temple Island. Tenzin was worriedly pacing on a veranda when they appeared. "Thank goodness." He said as he approached them. "I was just about to get the Chief of Police to go looking for you." He embraced Korra in relief. "Are you alright?"

Korra shook her head in the negative. "No."

"Korra, what happened?" Tenzin asked, glancing slightly at Naruto and hoping for an answer. "Did you find your friend?"

Seeing she was still too distraught over what they found out, Naruto decided to speak for her. "Yes, but there's something else. While looking for him we ended up at an Equalist rally. We saw Amon."

"What?!"

Korra continued. "He can take a person's bending away. For good."

Tenzin grew visibly worried. "That's impossible. Only the avatar has ever possessed that ability."

"I told her we would figure this out on the ride over." Naruto replied, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning against the rail.

"But I saw him do it." She said, looking at them both.

"I believe you." Tenzin replied, stroking his beard in thought. "I don't know how Amon has achieved this power, but this means the revolution is more dangerous than ever. No bender is safe."

"Well, I'm gonna go hit the sack. I'm bushed after tonight's excitement." Naruto said, yawning lightly.

"I think it would be wise if we all went to bed." Tenzin said.

With that, they all went their separate ways for the night.

The breeze softly blew through the open window, slightly moving the shades in the process. The night was calm as Korra lay sleeping in her bed. Suddenly, a Chi-Blocker came bursting through the window, nearly catching Korra off-guard. Before she could react, two more came bursting into her room, breaking down her bedroom door in the process. Leaping and flipping toward them, she sent a kick out at them, following it with a roundhouse kick. The Chi-Blockers moved out of the way and dodged the two attacks. She punched twice more to the sides, one of the fighters dodged the attack aimed at him, jumped onto the nearby dresser table and jumped into the air and kicked at her head.

Fortunately she was able to block in time. She countered with a quick series of punches. She was also starting to wonder what was keeping Naruto. He was probably being held up as well. Before she could wonder about it further, another Chi-Blocker rolled in from the side and made a series of quick punches from the small of her back, all the way up to her shoulder. She cried out as her body collapsed due to the spreading numbness. She heard a series of footsteps and looked up through half-lidded eyes to see the identity of the new arrival.

Amon strode in, reaching out to her as he said. "When I take your bending away, you will be nothing."

Korra awoke with a scream. As she looked around, she spotted Naga licking her arm and trying to comfort her. Stroking the polar bear-dog she said hoarsely. "It's okay girl, it was just a bad dream."

That morning, Tenzin was in another meeting with the Republic City Council. Councilman Tarlokk was in fine form as usual. "There is a madman running around our beloved city, threatening to tear it apart. We need to create a task-force whose sole purpose is to find Amon and bring him to justice."

"Absolutely not." Tenzin replied firmly. "A move that aggressive would only further divide benders and non-benders."

The Fire Nation councilwoman spoke up. "I'm inclined to agree to your proposal, but who would head up such a task-force."

Tarlokk had small smile on his face as he stood and said. "It would be my honour and privilege to accept such a duty."

"This is just another one of your ploys to gain more power, isn't it?" Tenzin piped up.

"All I'm trying to do is help. Think back: Forty-two years ago, this city was threatened by another dangerous man. Yakone. Your father wasn't afraid to deal with him head-on."

Tenzin was beginning to lose his patience. "This is a completely different situation." He angrily got to his feet as he continued. "And how dare you compare yourself to Avatar Aang."

"Amon is not going to stop with the bending triads. Eventually he will come for all us benders. Our friends, our families. Vote for this task-force, and I will stop Amon before it's too late. All in favour?" He asked as he raised his hand.

Tenzin knew this idea would backfire. Unfortunately, it seemed that he was alone in this thought, as the vote was four to one in favour of creating the task-force. With a bang the gavel came down, calling an end to the meeting. Tarlokk smiled at his clear victory.

That night, Korra was going through the movements for her Airbending form with the radio playing in the background. Before the current music segment could come to an end, an unexpected voice was heard over the radio. Korra glanced at the radio in shock as she heard Amon. "Good evening my fellow Equalists. This is your leader Amon. As you are no doubt aware, the city council has voted to make me public enemy number one." The more he spoke, the more Korra's fear became visible. "Proving once again that the bending oppressors of this city will stop at nothing to quash our revolution, but we cannot be stopped, our numbers grow stronger by the day. You no longer have to live in fear. The time has come for benders to experience fear."

"Hey Korra, how's the practice going?" Naruto asked, coming up the stairs behind her.

"AAH!" Korra screamed, launching a fireball at the suspected intruder.

"Waoh!" Naruto shouted, dodging and quickly diverting the attack. "It's just me, calm down." He said as he drew closer.

"Sorry. Sorry, it's just..."

"Yeah, I understand. This Equalist thing has us all in a bit of a flat spin." Naruto said, then looked at her again. "Hey, have you been sleeping alright?" he asked as he laid a hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah, fine. Why do you ask?"

"You just seem a little more tense than usual, that's all."

"Like I said, I'm fine." Korra said decisively. Though secretly, she was terrified of what could happen with the Equalist situation.

"Listen, I'm going into town tomorrow to get some supplies for Pema, you want to come along?" Naruto asked, deciding to change the subject for now.

Another hint of fear appeared briefly on Korra's face, but quickly disappeared again. "No thanks. I need to practice these Airbending forms, I still haven't got all of them down."

"Okay then. Don't stay up too late." Naruto said as he left with a wave.

Before he was completely out of sight, Korra piped up. "Hey Naruto, be careful alright. I wouldn't want anything to happen to you like what almost happened to Bolin."

"Glad to know you care Korra." He said as he turns to look at her again. "Don't worry, I'll be careful. I mean, what's the worst that could happen." He added with a smirk as he left.

Naruto was on his way home with the supplies he was supposed to get and had decided to cut through the industrial sector to get back to the ferries faster. He was looking around at the factories around him and wondering what they manufactured when he heard a female voice cry out. "Look out!"

A screech of tyres was heard as the broad side of the moped struck him. The blow sent him rolling along the ground. He finally came to a stop a few feet from where the moped was standing. As he was recovering from the blow he could hear the rider dismounting the vehicle.

"That'll teach me to watch my big mouth before I try and be smart." Naruto mutters as he rubs his head.

"I am so sorry. Are you alright?" a woman's voice asked.

"Don't worry ma'am, I'll recover." He said as he made his way to his feet. As he finished dusting himself off, he looked up to address the woman to her face. What he saw surprised even him. Before him stood a beautiful raven-haired young woman, about Korra's age with long black hair that flowed down her back in waves. She was taller than Korra as he made a quick comparison, though still shorter than him, but only by half a head. Her green eyes were slightly crinkled in worry as she asked again. "I didn't hurt you, did I?"

He smiled as he replied. "Don't worry Miss, I get hurt worse when I'm sparring?"

She looked him over for a moment and then a small bit of recognition seemed to grace her face. "Oh wait, I recognise you. You're a member of the Order of the White Lotus"

"Yes." Naruto replied, with a slight look of surprise before he continued. "Naruto Uzumaki at your service."

She palmed her face in embarrassment. "I am so sorry. My name's Asami." She extended her hand. Naruto grasped it with his own as she continued. "Let me make this up to you. How about I treat you to dinner? Tonight, 8 o' clock Kwong's Cuisine."

As she turned to leave, Naruto finally decided to answer her. "Kwong's Cuisine? I don't know where that is?"

"Don't worry. I'm sure you'll find it if you ask around." She said as she donned her helmet again. "So... It's a date?"

"Yeah. I suppose it is." He replies as she drives off.

Gathering the scattered supplies, he made his way back to the Air Temple. As he arrived, he met Pema along the way. "So, young man, are you doing okay here on the island?" She asked as she took some of the load form him.

"Yes. Thank you for asking. I'm mostly just worried about Korra." Naruto replied with a smile. A small look of worry passed over his face as he continued: "This whole situation with Korra and the Equalists is just worrying me. Mainly because she seems to feel she has to keep any emotional turmoil buttoned up."

"That was my observation as well after what Tenzin told me." Pema added as they continued to the kitchens. "So are you joining us for dinner?"

Naruto glanced at her with a slightly sheepish look. "No actually. I have been invited to dinner."

"I thought the members of the white lotus weren't allowed to have romantic relationships."

"We aren't. However, this isn't a romantic date."

As he continued walking, he asked. "By the way, do you know where Kwong's Cuisine is?"

"Yes, I'll direct you as soon as we are done restocking the kitchen." Pema answered.

After they had finished storing all the groceries, Naruto made his way to the bathroom to get ready for his dinner invitation. His thoughts kept mulling over Pema's comment when he had returned from town.

"I'll just make it clear to her." He said as he slid open the door. He was so caught up in his thoughts about the supposed dinner date, he did not notice that the bathroom was occupied.

Through the steam he could just begin to make out the silhouette of a woman. The unidentified woman turned to inform whoever had entered that she was currently using the bathroom, when she saw who had opened the door. They both seemed to realise who the other was almost simultaneously.

"AAAAH!" They both screamed at the same time.

Naruto immediately backpedalled and slammed the door. Korra appeared a few minutes later. She had wrapped herself in a towel so that she at least appeared semi-decent.

She almost screamed: "What the hell Naruto?!"

Naruto tried to look at anything except her. "I'm sorry Avatar Korra." He said semi-formally. "I apologise for the intrusion. I have no excuse, I wasn't paying attention to where I was going and I forgot to knock."

"Damn straight you forgot to knock." She huffed. She crossed her arms under her breasts, and frowned at him as she asked. "What's got you so lost in thought?"

Her hair was still wet from the shower and hung down to her shoulders. As he looked he noticed a drop of water roll down from the side of her face. He continued to watch as it rolled down over her jaw, down her neck, along her collarbone and disappear into her cleavage, which was quite ample given her age.

"I was in a traffic accident this morning," before she could comment, he continued, "and the woman who was responsible invited me to dinner to make up for what happened."

"What do you mean she invited you to dinner?"

"Well, she hit me with her moped. I recovered and got up off the ground. She apologised profusely and said the magic words 'Let me take you out to dinner to make up for what I did.'" He explained, his tone dripping with sarcasm.

"Okay Mister Wiseass. So, are you going?" She asked as nonchalantly as possible.

"Yeah, I was planning to. It's not anything romantic."

"Okay. I should probably finish up for dinner with Tenzin and his family." She said as she got her toiletries and disappeared down the hall to her room. He did not notice the slight frown that marred her face as she left.

That evening, Tenzin and his family along with Korra were all sitting around the table preparing for dinner. Tenzin said a traditional prayer of thanks, but before Tenzin even finished, a stranger entered the dining room without even batting an eyelash.

"I'm not interrupting, am I?" he asked, an almost unnoticed hint of arrogance in his voice.

Korra gave the newcomer a calm once-over as Tenzin go to his feet and said in indignation. "This is my home Tarlokk. We're about to have dinner."

Tarlokk seemed to ignore his tone as he replied. "Good, because I am famished." A smug look crossed his face as he added, "Airbenders never turn away a hungry guest, am I right?"

Tenzin had no way to argue the point without making a scene and Tarlokk seemed to realise this as he walked to the other side of the dining room. As Tenzin sat down to continue dinner, he caught the annoyed look his wife threw his way. His only answer was to shrug, completely at a loss over what to do.

Tarlokk greeted Korra cordially. "Ah, you must be Avatar Korra. It is truly an honour." Bowing slightly, he continued. "I am Councilman Tarlokk, representative of the Northern Water Tribe."

Smirking slightly at his tone, Korra stood up and greeted him with a traditional bow. "Nice to meet you." With that they both sat down.

As Tarlokk made himself comfortable, Ikki shifted closer and started rattling off questions. "Why do you have three ponytails? And how come you smell like a lady?"

Trying to maintain a calm in the face of these uncomfortable questions, Tarlokk replied. "My, aren't you… precocious."

Turning to Korra he started on a different topic. "So, I've been reading all about your adventures in the paper. Infiltrating Amon's rally, now that took some real initiative."

Korra answered with a smile and a hint of surprise. "Oh, thanks. I think you're the first authority figure in the city who's happy I'm here."

Tarlokk continued. "Republic City is much better off now that you've arrived."

With mounting suspicion, Tenzin interrupted. "Enough flattery Tarlokk. What do you want with Korra?"

Taking Tenzin's interruption in stride, Tarlokk answered. "Patience Tenzin, I'm getting to that." Turning to Korra, he continued. "As you may have heard, I am assembling a task force that will strike at the heart of the revolution. And I want you to join me."

"Really?"/"What?" Korra and Tenzin asked simultaneously.

"I need someone who will attack Amon directly. Someone who is fearless in the face of danger, and that someone is you." He finished, pointing at Korra.

"Join your task force?" Korra began and a look of sadness passed over her face, then she answered. "I can't."

For a few minutes both Tenzin and Tarlokk were shocked by the answer, but Tarlokk was quick to recover, "I must admit, I'm rather surprised. I thought you would jump at the chance to take the fight to Amon."

"Me too." Tenzin muttered seemingly to himself.

"I came to Republic City to finish my Avatar training with Tenzin. Right now, I just need to focus on that."

Seeming to not get the hint, Tarlokk continued. "Which is why this opportunity is perfect. You would get on-the-job experience while performing your Avatar duties for the city."

Deciding to end the discussion once and for all, Tenzin interrupted again. "Korra gave you her answer, it's time for you to go."

"Very well." Tarlokk said as he stood up from the table. "But I'm not giving up on you just yet. You'll be hearing from me soon. It has been a pleasure, Avatar Korra."

As Tarlokk made his way to the exit, Ikki decided to get the last word in. "Bye bye ponytail man." She said as she vigorously waved at his back.

 **A/N: Hi, thanks for all the reviews. I hope you guys are enjoying the story so far.**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

The restaurant known as Kwong's Cuisine was apparently a stylish, high-class restaurant located on one of the busier street corners in the downtown area. As he made his way up the step to the entrance, he couldn't help staring at the beauty of the building.

'This is definitely a place where the well-off go for dinner.' Naruto thought as he entered. Walking into the foyer further drove the point home as he was greeted by the maître d'.

"Good evening Master Naruto and welcome to Kwong's Cuisine." The man greeted with a deep bow.

The maître d' made to lead him away, when Naruto interrupted him. "Where are you taking me?"

"Miss Sato has an outfit planned out for you to wear. If you will follow me?" The maître d gestured in the direction that he was heading. Hearing this, Naruto gave himself a once-over. He was dressed in his traditional White Lotus robes sans hat. Regarding the man anew he replied in a mild tone: "If she has any respect for my order and what it represents, my current dress will be fine."

Keeping his unflappable appearance in the face of this answer he quickly changed direction. "As you wish sir, this way please."

Making their way through the slight maze of tables, they arrived at Asami's table. She had chosen a semi-private table, set into a corner and equipped with a set of drapes – currently pulled back – that could provide some privacy if needed.

Drawing closer to the table, Naruto noticed that Asami was dressed in a stylish full-length sleeveless dress that hugged every curve of her body. He admitted that the dress was absolutely stunning. Her raven hair fell down her back in waves to just past her shoulders and served to complete the vision of beauty before him. Seeing him approach, she stood and greeted him.

"Master Naruto, I am so glad you could come." She said with a small smile, gesturing him to a seat.

"Please, Miss Sato, simply call me Naruto. There is no need to be so formal with me."

Taking her seat once again, she continued. "Let me just apologise again for hitting you with my scooter today."

"It was my fault for not watching where I was going." Naruto replied. Glancing around at the surroundings, and taking the manner of dress and the richness of the surrounding patrons and the restaurant as a whole, he added. "I notice this restaurant is very high-class. It couldn't have been easy to get a table."

"Oh, don't worry. My family has a permanent reservation here." She said smiling lightly, stroking a loose lock of hair behind ear.

"How?" he asked, frowning in confusion, before he seemed to realise something. "Wait a minute. 'Miss Sato'... You're not a relation of the inventor of the satomobile, are you?" As he uttered the words though, he suspected he knew the answer.

"Yup, he's my father." She answered, as if it was nothing at all.

"Wow that explains a lot then, and I kind of feel like an idiot now." He said, bowing his head and palming his face in mortification.

"Oh, don't worry. I've tried to live my own life." She said as she waved the matter aside.

"I can respect that."

"Anyway. So tell me what it's like being a member of the Order of the White Lotus. That must be interesting." She said as she leaned forward interestedly.

"Not as interesting as you would think."

"Oh come on!" she said excitedly as she leaned forward on her elbows, the action doing interesting things involving her cleavage. "I bet you've had some great adventures."

"Yeah, I'll admit, that there have been one or two moments that were exciting" Naruto replied with a wry smile.

Her eyes glowing with excitement, she continued. "Yeah. I mean you guys protect the Avatar, right? What's she like?"

"Headstrong. Bit of a handful to be honest." There was a moment's pause. "No really, she has a lot of potential, but I wasn't quite kidding about the headstrong comment. She recently joined the Fire Ferrets."

"The Pro-Bending team? How did that happen?"

"Well, it started pretty much like any other day. It just so happened to be the day I happened to arrive in Republic City."

And so Naruto related the story of how Korra ended up joining the Fire Ferrets. Throughout, Asami listened attentively. Towards the end she finally decided to speak again.

"So she got to join because the previous member threw a fit and left?" She asked, a small grin on her face.

"Yup. And Tenzin let her stay on the team, because she seemed to be able to properly implement the basic principles of Airbending."

"Wait, what do you mean 'the basic principles of Airbending.'?"

"You'll have to ask her about it." Naruto said, realising that they were treading into personal territory.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to pry. So they are taking part in the big tournament right?"

"Yes. Well, they were planning to, but I don't think they will be able to take part."

"What gives you that idea?"

"Korra mentioned something about an entry fee."

"What entry fee?" She asked, leaning forward in interest.

"From the way she explained it to me: Every team has to invest 10 000 yuans into the prize money pot." Came the reply.

As they finished their dinner, Asami spoke again. "Maybe I should talk to her about sponsoring the team."

"Feel free. I think the team would really appreciate any help you could give."

They continued the rest of their dinner, making light conversation as they continued eating.

As the evening wound down, they took a relaxing walk to the ferry. As they reached the ferry, Naruto decided to broach the reason he had accepted this invitation.

"Miss Sato," he began as he gestured her to stop, "if you know anything about my order you must realise that I cannot have romantic relationships."

Asami seemed to consider this, nodding a little sadly. "Yeah, I know. Still, part of me did invite you to make up for the accident."

"I'm glad we came to that understanding." Naruto said, bowing slightly and walking to the ferry.

"I'll be by tomorrow to discuss the financing issue with Korra though." Asami said as he made to get on the ferry.

"Of course Miss Sato. I'm sure she would love meeting you." Naruto replied stepping onto the deck of the ferry.

The next morning found Korra sitting on the steps of the Airbending practice ring, watching Naruto practice his Firebending stances. Naga was lying on her back nearby and Korra was gently stroking her belly. Korra decided to ask about something that had been on her mind since last night.

"So, how was the date?" Korra asked, feigning nonchalance.

"The date was fine, except it wasn't a date."

"What? What do you mean?" Korra asked, a hopeful look in her eyes.

"I explained to her that our order doesn't allow for romantic relationships."

"Oh, that's too bad." She said, a wistful look on her face.

"You wouldn't believe who it was though."

Suddenly they heard a voice shouting from behind them.

"Hello fellow teammate! And Naruto!" Bolin greeted with a wave.

"Hello Bolin." They greeted as he made his way toward them.

"Missed you at practice this week."

"Yeah, sorry about that." Korra replied, lavishing Naga with attention.

"Eh, it's alright. We're probably out of the tournament anyway, unless some money magically falls out of the sky right this second."

Naruto decided to add his information to the conversation. "That's what I wanted to mention to you guys. The young woman who invited me to dinner last night is named Asami Sato."

"Who's she?" Korra asked, a slight frown of confusion marring her face.

"Wait, that name sounds familiar." Bolin mumbled, scratching his chin in thought.

As if to answer their question, a new voice was heard. "Greetings Master Naruto. You have a visitor." One of the acolytes said as he approached them, Asami walking behind him.

"Thank you." Naruto replied, bowing to the monk. Deciding to play host, Naruto turned to the others and said, "Guys, may I introduce Asami Sato." Pulling her slightly closer to the group. "Asami, allow me to introduce Bolin, Earthbender for the Fire Ferrets." He said as he gestured to Bolin, Asami bowed in greeting.

"And this," he said, turning slightly, "is Avatar Korra, Waterbender for the Fire Ferrets."

"Pleased to meet you." Korra said holding out her hand, deciding to be friendly and make a good impression.

"Likewise." Asami replied, grasping her hand.

"Asami is here to discuss something with you, specifically the team's financial situation and how she can help it."

"What are you talking about?" Korra asked frowning slightly at Naruto.

"I mentioned to her that you guys were having trouble getting the money together. She said that she might be able to offer some assistance in that regard." Naruto said, gesturing to Asami to continue.

"Well, as you may or may not know, my father owns Sato Industries." Asami began. She was immediately interrupted by Bolin.

"You mean Hiroshi Sato, inventor of the Satomobile?"

"Yeah." Asami replied with a small smile.

"Wow! You are so lucky." Bolin replied with a starry look in his eyes.

"Anyway. I spoke with my dad about your problem and how talented you guys are and he agreed to sponsor the Fire Ferrets."

"Wow! Really? That's great." Korra cried, hopping on her toes in excitement.

Bolin piped up. "We should have Mako here. He is part of the team after all."

"That's true. You should go and get him." Naruto said. Bolin quickly left to go and get his brother.

As Bolin made his way to the pier, he passed an elderly woman who was carrying a large wicker basket, filled to overflowing with various fruits, sweets and other gifts. As she neared Korra and the others, she carefully put it down next to Korra. Bowing in respect to everyone, she spoke to Korra in as scratchy, nasally voice. "Tarlok sends his compliments and urges you to reconsider his offer."

With a brusque tone and an air of annoyance she replied. "Tell him I haven't changed my mind."

"Who is Tarlok?" Asami asked.

"He's this councilman who works with Tenzin, who paid me a visit last night." Came the short reply.

"'Paid you a visit'? That doesn't sound ominous at all." Naruto said with a smirk.

"You goof! Not like that. He was forming an anti-Equalist task force and wanted me to sign up."

Naruto gave her a slow, measuring look as he asked. "And what did you tell him exactly?"

"I told him that I was here to train Airbending and that's all." Korra said, making her way to her feet and gesturing around her as she continued. "Of course, he didn't take to that to well and now he's trying to bribe me."

'She looks like something is bothering her. The way she's wired, I would have thought she would jump at the chance to help with something like that.' Naruto thought to himself.

"Good for you Korra." Asami said with a small smile. For a moment, Korra had a surprised look on her face. 'I didn't think anyone would agree with me so much.' She thought as she regarded Asami anew.

Seeming to realise that an explanation was called for, Asami decided to elaborate. "Well, you shouldn't let anyone like that force you to do something you don't believe wholeheartedly."

"Thanks. Asami was it?" Korra replied, a questioning look passing over her face.

"Yeah."

Just then, Bolin returned with Mako in tow. "Bolin said you guys had something important to discuss and that it involved the team?" Mako asked by way of greeting.

"Hello to you too." Korra said with a small frown.

"Well Asami, everyone is here so I guess you can start your explanation of why you came by." Naruto said, gesturing to Asami with a smile.

"Okay, first things first. My name is Asami Sato, daughter of Hiroshi Sato the inventor of the Satomobile."

"Wow." Bolin and Mako muttered with star-struck looks on their faces.

"Anyway, last night Naruto told me how you guys probably wouldn't be able to take part in the tournament because you wouldn't be able to contribute the large amount of money needed as an entry fee."

"Naruto!" Korra cried out scandalised.

"What?! It's true." Naruto answered with a shrug and motioned for Asami to continue.

"So I spoke with my father and he agreed to sponsor you guys for the tournament." She finished with a happy smile.

"What does that mean exactly?" Korra asked.

"Future Industries will take care of all the fees including your contribution to the prize money. All you have to do is take part in the tournament with the uniforms with our company logo on it." Asami explained.

"Wow! That's great!" Mako and Bolin cried hugging each other in happiness.

"Thanks Asami, we won't let you down." Korra said, shaking Asami's hand in thanks.

The next day as Tenzin made his way back from the latest council meeting, he found Ikki and Meelo playing around in a luxury Satomobile with a large bow tied across the top. 'Must be another or Tarlokk's bribes.' He thought.

"BROOOOM! BROOOM! Out of the way daddy, we're driving here." Ikki cried, jerking the steering wheel left and right as she imagined racing around the island.

Shaking his head in bemusement and slight exasperation, he made his way further into the temple grounds in search of Korra. He found her in the Airbending practice ring going through the various Airbending movements. Naruto stood nearby looking on with a slightly pensive look on his face.

"I see Tarlokk's gifts are becoming more and more extravagant." He said as he made his way to Naruto.

"Yeah, that guy doesn't know how to take 'no' for an answer." Korra replied as she continued the current kata.

"Is she doing alright?" he whispered to Naruto.

"I don't think so, but she won't talk to me about it. I suspect she thinks it will make her seem weak." Naruto replied in a whisper.

Deciding to see if he could make any headway in the matter, he said: "Korra, why don't you take a break." So saying he sat down and gestured to the spot next to him.

Shrugging nonchalantly, she replied. "Okay. Sure" and made her way to where he was sitting.

As she sat down, Tenzin continued. "I'm glad you turned down Tarlokk, nut I just want to make sure that you did it for the right reasons."

"I'm just really focused on my Airbending right now. That was all." Korra replied, trying to appear untroubled.

Suspecting there may be another reason behind her decision he carefully continued as he looked out over the bay and the city beyond. "Right. You know, it's okay to be scared. The whole city is frightened by what's been going on. The important thing is to talk about our fears, because if we don't they can throw us out of balance."

Naruto silently stood by and w2atched the conversation taking place. He was worried for Korra. She was hiding her fears from everyone and covering it with fake nonchalance and bravado. That would lead to trouble if she did not accept and confront her fear.

Getting to his feet, Tenzin said. "I'm always here for you if you want to talk." Making this his final word on the matter, he left the training ring. Before he was completely out of earshot, he heard Naruto add. "I am as well Korra."

That evening as Korra was relaxing on the porch with Jinora and Ikki, she heard that same nasal voice greet her. "Avatar Korra, I have something for you." Before the messenger could continue, Korra jumped off the balustrade she had been sitting on and bent the earth directly under her, spinning her 180 degrees and sending her walking back the way she came with a kick to her rear, angrily adding, "It doesn't matter how many gifts Tarlokk sends, I am not joining his task force."

"It's not a gift. It's an invitation." She explained, waving the item in front of her.

"To what?" Korra asked suspiciously as she walked toward her.

"Tarlokk is throwing a gala in your honour." She elaborated as she bowed slightly as Korra took the invitation. "All of Republic City's movers and shakers will be there. The councilman humbly requests your attendance."

Without waiting for answer the messenger left. While she was staring at the invitation in her hand and thinking about whether or not she should go, Naruto appeared next to her.

"Hey, what's that you've got there?" He asked with a smile on his face.

"Some kind of invitation." Came the reply. Korra then explained what the messenger told her regarding who sent it, and why?

His smile dropped into a frown as he spoke. "Korra, this may sound unnecessary and condescending, but be careful around him. From what you and Tenzin have told me, he doesn't seem trustworthy."

"Thanks for the warning." Korra said with a smirk.

"Yeah, I know, completely unnecessary." Naruto replied with a smile, his hands in defeat.

The next morning, found Korra and Naruto and Korra together. She had asked him that morning to train her Firebending with her, so as to keep her skills sharp.

At one point, she had spun and made a high kick, sending a blast of fire at Naruto. He dodged it almost easily and grabs her foot, holding it and making a blade of fire in his free hand and holding it to her throat.

"Remember, Firebending can be used in close combat as well." Naruto said as he let go of her foot. This seemed to signal the end of the bout and they both moved to get a drink of water to cool down.

"So, the party is tonight. Do you have anything to wear?" Korra asked as she doused her head in water to cool off. Naruto had his back to her and turned to answer. His brain froze as his eyes registered the scene before him. Even though she was wearing chest bindings the water had caused her top to her curves in ways that left almost nothing to the imagination.

For what seemed like an age, his brain couldn't seem to get his tongue to work, before he finally replied. "Well, I am a member of the White Lotus, and your bodyguard, so I will be wearing what I always wear." He pointed at himself to illustrate.

"The robes? Really? I never see you in any other clothes. Don't you have anything else?" Korra asked in an exasperated tone.

"Nope. Anyway, it doesn't matter since the night will be about you, not me." Naruto replied.

Evening came and everyone from Air Temple Island was resplendent in their formal attire. Of course if you asked Naruto the best dressed one was most assuredly Korra. She was dressed in a beautiful dark blue, sleeveless Water Tribe dress that allowed her well-developed arms to be on full display. Her usual ponytail was hidden in a bun and cover with a special hairpiece, but the rest of her hairstyle remained pretty much the same.

Tenzin and the others were dressed in the formal Air Nomad robes. They were coloured in various shades of red and had the traditional long sleeves. Tenzin was keeping an eye out for anything suspicious, specifically his children's behaviour and anything out of the ordinary that Tarlokk had planned to ambush Korra with.

As he made his way across the hall, a voice piped up behind him. "So, the White Lotus robes are truly fit for every occasion, aren't they?"

He turned around to answer the unseen speaker, but was struck speechless for a moment when he saw who it was.

 **A/N: Hi. I know it's been a while and I know it's not a lot, but I hope you enjoyed it. I am also planning to enter NaNoWriMo this year, so I might be slow with the updates.**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

It was Asami.

She looked absolutely stunning. Her hair was a dark waterfall across her back. And the dress… words failed to describe how beautifully it fit her. Her shoulders were covered in a wine red shawl done up in the front with an ornate gold clasp. The rest of her outfit hugged her curves in every flattering way possible.

"Well Miss Sato, you look simply stunning this evening, if you don't mind my saying so." Naruto remarked with a smirk.

"Thank you Master Naruto, that is kind of you to say." She replied with a small smile.

"Naruto is fine." He said with a self-deprecating smile.

Turning slightly, Asami added. "Master Naruto, may I introduce my father and owner of Sato Industries, Hiroshi Sato."

A finely dressed middle-aged man approached and spoke. "It is an honour and a pleasure to meet you Master Naruto." He smiled and added, "I understand the Avatar is here as well and that she is quite the Pro-Bender."

Suddenly, Korra appeared at his side. "Here you are. I have been looking all over the place for you."

Naruto placed an arm around her shoulder and said. "We were just talking about you actually. Mister Sato, this is Avatar Korra."

"A pleasure Avatar." He said, bowing slightly.

"And you are?" She asked.

"Forgive me. Hiroshi Sato, owner and CEO of Sato Industries." He said with a small smile.

"Good to meet you. I take it you're Asami's father?" Korra said as she glanced at Asami. 'That's a nice dress.' She thought, a smile passing over her face.

"Yes, that is me. I hear you are doing quite well in the Pro-Bending tournament."

"Yes. Thank you again for agreeing to sponsor us."

"No thanks necessary. I am always happy to help those with potential who need a leg up. We're all expecting great things from you."

Korra looked away, a grimace marring her beautiful face. "Yeah. Greatness." She muttered glumly. Changing the subject, she said. "So I hear you crashed into my bodyguard." She placed a slightly possessive arm around Naruto's waist.

"Yes, completely my fault of course. I wasn't looking where I was going."

"Of course." Was the slightly snide reply.

Sensing the mood seeming to shift between the two ladies, Naruto decided to divert Korra's attention.

"Hey, let's go see what kind of food they have at this shindig." Naruto said with a grin, slightly dragging Korra to the nearby buffet table.

As they were busy dishing up some food, Tarlokk approached them. "Avatar Korra, I believe you have already met our esteemed chief of police, Chief Lin Beifong."

Before Naruto or Korra could begin to form a reply, Lin spoke. "Just because the city's throwing you this big to-do, don't think you're anything special. You've done absolutely nothing to deserve this."

Without waiting for a reply, Lin stomped away. Glancing over to her, Naruto whispered. "Listen, she knows you mean well and want to help."

"And how do you know that?" She asked with a frown.

"Trust me, I'm good at reading people. She just has to put up a tough facade because she's the Chief."

Tarlokk chose that moment to speak up again. "If you would come with me Avatar Korra, there are some more people who would love to meet you."

Accompanied by Naruto, Korra followed Tarlokk down some stairs. Suddenly, a group of news reporters appeared seemingly out of thin air.

"If you'd be so kind, they just have a couple of questions." Tarlokk said as explanation before trying to push Korra toward the knot of reporters. As he made to push her, his hand was suddenly looked in a vice. He looked down, only to find that Naruto's hand was clamped around his wrist.

"Forgive me Master Naruto, but what are you doing?" he asked with a smirk.

Naruto replied with a menacing whisper. "I am the Avatar's bodyguard. Korra might be slightly naive, but I have quite a bit of experience with people like you. If anything untoward should happen to her, there will be hell to pay."

Naruto made his way closer to Korra, he mumbled to her. "They will most likely try to steamroll you with questions. Just take your time with your answers and stand by them."

Slowly they made their way to the group and the questioning began. "Avatar Korra, you witnessed Amon taking away people's bending first-hand, how serious a threat does he pose to Republic City?"

"I think he presents a real problem." Korra answered uncertainly. With a self-assured smirk, Tarlokk glanced over at a specific reporter. This seemed to be a signal as the reporter proceeded to ask: "Then why have you refused to join Tarlokk's task-force? As the Avatar, shouldn't you be going after Amon?"

"Well, I-" Korra tried to answer before she was cut off.

"Why are you backing away from this fight?"

As she began to answer, she felt a hand being laid gently on her shoulder. Looking to her side, she saw Naruto with a gentle smile on his face. "Take your time." He mouthed to her.

With renewed confidence she regarded the reporters. "I am not backing out of the fight. At the moment, I am focussed only on completing my Airbending training. I told Councilman Tarlokk this when he asked me about this previously and after more and more extravagant bribes, my answer has not changed."

"You promised to serve this city, are you taking that statement back?"

"No. I will help this city in any capacity, but that is up to Chief Beifong." Korra answered firmly.

"Do you think Pro-Bending is more important than fighting this revolution?"

"No, Pro-Bending is something I do, because I enjoy it. Like I said, if the police decide that my help is needed, then I will help."

"How do you think Avatar Aang would have handled this?"

"Are you afraid of Amon?"

Korra finally seemed to lose what little patience she had. "That is it! I am not afraid of anyone. And as far as what Avatar Aang would do, he would respect the authority of the police and the law."

Naruto took her firmly by the arm and started to lead her away as he said. "I think the Avatar has answered your questions. Go enjoy the rest of the party."

As they made their way away from the reporters Tenzin approached them. "I am glad you did not let them bully you into doing something you did not fully agree with."

"It's mostly thanks to Naruto." She said as she turned slightly to Naruto, only to find him gone.

Naruto carefully made his way through the crowds of partygoers until he spotted his target. Quickening his pace, he reached Tarlokk and whispered. "May we speak privately for a few minutes?"

"Of course Master Naruto." They made their way to a secluded hallway. Before Tarlokk could say anything, Naruto spun around and grabbed Tarlokk by his collar.

"I warned you Tarlokk. I saw you signal that reporter. I can't really do anything to you at the moment, but trust me, if I find you step one toe out of line regarding your dealings with Korra, one whisper of you saying or doing anything antagonising or inflammatory and I will unleash a firestorm on your head."

Having finished his monologue, he released Tarlokk. Slowly recovering his poise, Tarlokk readjusted his clothes and replied with a smirk. "Of course Master Naruto, I understand completely."

A few days later found the Ferrets at practice and looking in fine form. Naruto himself was off to one side, alternatively practicing his Firebending forms or meditating. He was dressed only in his traditional pants and a sleeveless shirt to ease his movement. The sweat was beginning to fly as he steadily increased the speed of his kata.

Korra, Mako and Bolin were finishing their practice session with a triple knockout; each of the three had knocked the other out. As they slowly made their way to their feet, Mako spoke. "It's been great having you here for all these back to back practices Korra."

Bolin added his two cents as well. "We thought for sure you would join Tarlokk's task force."

Korra removed her helmet with a shake of her head. "Yeah, well thanks to cooler heads, I can divide my time fairly between the team and my Airbending training."

Naruto overheard her. "You're welcome, by the way."

Mako brought the discussion back on track. "Okay, everybody get in here, team huddle time."

Leaning forward, they slung their arms around each other's shoulders and threw each other a goofy grin. After a few seconds, Mako began to speak again. "It's our first match of the tournament tonight. Now, I know the three of us haven't been a team for very long, but even so, I think the Fire Ferrets are ready. Are we ready?"

"We're ready!" came the loud reply.

Naruto stood nearby, winding down from his last kata for the moment when he heard a female voice behind him.

"Not quite. You'll need these." Asami said with a wink. "Good evening Naruto." She greeted.

"Good evening Asami." He answered, with a nod.

"Hey Asami, are those the jerseys?" Korra greeted.

"Wow, they look great." Mako said as he took one of them for a closer look.

Each of them grabbed a uniform and they made their way outside.

Mako and Bolin were relaxing in their rooms later that day. Mako was frying some noodles and Bolin was trying in vain to wash Pabu.

"Work with me here Pabu! You want to be spick and span for the tournament, don't you?" Bolin cried exasperatedly as Pabu continued to wriggle and writhe, trying to avoid the inevitable dunk in the wash basin.

After finally manhandling Pabu into the water, Bolin decided to tentatively broach a sensitive subject. "So what do you think of Korra in a... girlfriend sort of way?"

"She's great and all, but Asami is more my type." Mako answered while working the noodles around the pan.

"I was talking about a girlfriend for me." Bolin said in an irritated tone. "Leave some ladies for the rest of us."

"Oh, of course you meant that." Mako said, trying to recover from his gaffe.

"Well?"

"Well, I don't think it matters either way what I say, but I don't think it's a good idea to date someone in the team. If it backfires, the whole team could be ruined." Mako said as carefully as he could.

Bolin frowned in thought for a moment, then said. "Okay, but what do mean it doesn't matter either way?"

"Because I think she already has her eye on somebody."

Korra stopped Naruto for a moment and let the others pass them by, before she spoke. "Hey Naruto, feel like getting lunch?"

"I could eat." Was his reply as they made their way from the stadium.

They slowly walked along until they were about to pass a noodle bar. As Naruto smelled a whiff of the product sold inside, he came to a dead stop. Korra kept walking for a few moments before she noticed. As she turned around to ask him what was the matter, she almost burst out laughing at the sight that greeted her.

There, standing with a giant grin on his face was Naruto, but he wasn't standing still for long. He quickly made his way to the door of the restaurant as he said, "Unilateral decision. We are eating here."

Korra shrugged and followed him inside. As they entered, Korra was surprised to find a quite tastefully decorated restaurant.

A young woman, slightly older than Korra, approached them and said with a friendly smile. "Welcome to Ichiraku Noodles. Will it be two for lunch?"

Naruto replied in a serious tone. "I do not know about her my dear, but I am here to partake of the food of the gods."

"Call me Ayame." She continued with a slightly perplexed look on her face. "Food of the gods?" She glanced to Korra, hoping for some sort of explanation.

Smacking herself lightly in the forehead in aggravation she answered. "That's what he calls ramen."

"Oh yes, of course we have ramen. We also have other varieties of noodle dishes including Water Tribe seaweed noodles."

"Then take us to the nearest available seating post-haste so that I may sample these noodle delicacies."

They were shown to the nearest available seating and, after perusing the menu for a few moments, placed their orders. Korra ordered a bowl of Southern Water Tribe Seaweed Noodles, while Naruto ordered two bowls of beef ramen. While they waited, they also ordered some green tea.

Korra decided to try and make some conversation, since this was partly the reason with inviting Naruto out to lunch.

"So, I know how you ended up at the Order of the White Lotus, but do you at least enjoy your job?"

"Is that your way of fishing for answers about how I'm enjoying my current job?" he said with a smirk.

"No." She said, glancing off to the side, a slight flush filling her face.

"I'm kidding." He said with a laugh.

"Seriously though," he began as he spoke again. "In most cases, I really enjoy my work. Even though I am mostly sent on bodyguard duty, most of the clients are quite agreeable."

"Wow, I always thought nobles were kind of stuck-up." Korra said with a small frown.

"Some of them are, but a surprising amount of them just want to be treated like ordinary people."

"Yeah right."

"Oh, you don't believe me? You and Asami are prime examples."

"What do you mean 'You and Asami are prime examples.'? I can kind of understand Asami cause she's rich, but how do fit into things?"

"You're the Avatar."

"What?!"

"The title of Avatar can make you seem kind-of unapproachable to people who haven't met you before or some people might think you're stuck up."

"But I'm not!"

"I know you're not."

"But I'm not!"

"Yes, Lady Avatar I am aware. I just said it to prove a point, and it has been proven."

"So, how do I change people's perception of me?"

"Well, it will take time, but you've already convinced three new people not to judge you by your title."

"Yeah, that's true."

"Listen," he said as he reached across the table to take her hand as a gesture of commiseration, "it will not happen overnight, but people will come around."

"Yeah, I know. It's just a little hard to hear, you know?"

"Yeah. If it's any consolation, people think pretty much the same about me."

"What do you mean?"

"When most people meet me on the street, they bow so low they can scrape their faces on the pavement."

Most of the rest of the night went on in this fashion, until they finished their meal and made their way home. As they reached the island, they slowly made their way to their respective sleeping quarters.

"I really enjoyed tonight by the way." Korra said with a smile.

"Yes. I did too."

Later that night, the winter snow was in full swing while Korra, Ikki and Jinora were feeding the last of the lemurs for the night. As Korra added the last of the fruit to the lemurs' feeders, Jinora spoke up.

"So how's it going between you and Naruto, you've been spending a lot of time together lately."

Ikki, in typical fashion, chirped up energetically. "Ooh! Yeah, tell us all about the magical romance."

Korra tried to play it off. "What there's nothing going on, we're just friends. Anyway, I'm not interested in Naruto or anything romantic and neither is he for that matter." She said as she moved to gather the empty baskets. "Besides, he's part of the order of the White Lotus, so there is nothing I can do." She was silent for a beat, before she added, "But just say, for a moment, I am interested in him, what would I do?"

Jinora was first to answer. "Ooh, I just read a historical saga where the heroine fell in love with the enemy general's son, who was supposed to marry the princess. You should do what she did."

Korra eagerly replied, "Okay tell me."

"She rode a dragon into battle and burned down the entire country, then she jumped into a volcano. It was so romantic." Jinora finished, clasping her hands and shutting her eyes in rapture.

Before Korra could come up with an adequate reply, Ikki added her two cents. "No, no, no, the best way to win a boy's heart is to brew a love potion made of rainbows and sunsets that makes true lovers sprout wings and fly to a castle in the sky where they get married and eat clouds with spoons and use stars as ice cubes in their moonlight punch. Forever and ever and ever." She babbled as she spun into the air with excitement.

"The volcano is starting to make more sense to me." Korra muttered as she watched Ikki float to the ground. Suddenly they heard someone chuckling behind them. Fearing that it might be the subject of her conversation, Korra spun around, only to find Pema sniggering into her hand.

"Oh, hey Pema. How long have you been standing there?" She asked with a slight grimace of mortification.

"Long enough." Pema answered with a knowing smile. "Trust me, I might not know what you're going through, but I think my advice would still be helpful."


End file.
